The Library
by Arkytal
Summary: Tsukasa, Konata, and Hiyori have been bullied for their entire stint of high school. Now they've come together for a deadly plan of revenge. They're going to get it, and they're leaving school in a body bag.
1. Chapter 1

The Library

**A/N: No pairings, just psychological insanity.**

"You ignorant loser! You'll never be as good as your sister! You don't even deserve to be around her! Go back to your cage and hang out with the smelly girl and the lesbian. "

Her fang was visible, showing a look of contempt to her face.

I had been trying to sit with my sister at lunch, on one of the few days we didn't sit in the classroom to eat. Upon trying to sit down next to her, Misao and Ayano had distracted her. Upon Sis leaving with Ayano, the orange-haired slut turned and gave me an evil look and gave me the finger behind sis's back, while the jock had stuck around to taunt me.

I held my tongue. Today was the day I could take it all with a smile, because by this time tomorrow, that jock bitch would be dead. I got the giggles just thinking about it.

Fang bitch scoffed at me again and left to pursue the slut an my sister. My perfect in every way, popular, better than me sister.

It wasn't her fault. She looked out for me. Tried to keep the 'cool' kids off my back. Too bad the rest of this god-forsaken scum filled place had to go and put me and Kona-chan on the bottom of the pile in the make-believe chart of equality and importance.

They didn't care that we were people. They didn't care that we had feelings, interests, hobbies. They didn't care about any of that. All they ever cared about was that we were the weirdos, the bimbo and the otaku. They hounded us, caged us, berated us. But they didn't know.

They didn't know that we wouldn't take their shit lying down. We know things. We know people. And we know what we want. We want revenge.

At first, our revenge plot was more in line with vandalism and delinquent pranks. We made bombs out of cleaning supplies and set them off on people's lawns. We caused quite a scare just two weeks ago, to test the water for our true intents.

Konata knows a lot about a lot of things, and is a part of a phreaking group that operates in Akihabara. She made a smoke bomb without leaving any fingerprints on the device and planted it in the school library. During our lunch, she remotely set it off. Thick red smoke overflowed from the room, and the whole school was evacuated and closed down for 24 hours.

We had to act scared like the rest of the worthless sheep around us. The bomb was harmless, but it was a delicious omen of things to come. I almost with we HAD put something in it. Anything to make these worthless drones suffer, and maybe realize what they are before they atrophy and die a meaningless death.

It's like only myself, Kona-chan, and Hiyori are fucking self-aware. No one realizes that there's a bigger picture, or that nothing you do "matters", and no one will remember or care that you existed after your death.

That is, of course, if you don't make your mark on the world first. It's been done, so we'll do it; and we'll do it right. Those pansy-ass Americans only bagged 12 of them, and the Korean upped it to 31. We're gonna put it up a few levels.

I went to the classroom Hiyori was in, where she was sitting with Konata's cousin, a frail and sickly girl who was more pure of heart than any of us.

I nodded to her, then back to the door leading to the hall. She cut her conversation with the salmon-haired girl short and jogged out of the room to talk to me alone.

Hiyori was important, in a way no one could imagine. Her dad was Yakuza, and she could get guns, lethal gases, anything illegal, easy. She'd been gathering our stokpile for close to 6 months, a little bit at a time, to not gather attention.

Not that she could; she was just as much of an outcast as us, being openly gay. That shouldn't matter to anyone, but because it sets her apart from them, the shitty drones that inhabit this place give her a huge amount of shit, cussing her out in the hallway, and twice, even taking swings at her. But she was with us; she knew it was only a matter of time.

She leaned on the lockers about ten meters down the hall. I leaned on them next to her looking at her thin wire-frame glasses.

They were taped in the middle, evidence of the physical ostracizing she had endured recently. Disgusting. Not her, but the douchebags who think it's okay to do shit like that. No matter.

"So we're really gonna do it tomorrow?You're all set already?"

Her voice interrupted my thoughts. Her eyes were on mine, waiting for the reply.

"Of course. Kona-chan and me went to the warehouse over the weekend and got ourselves...'familiarized' with what you brought us. Are you ready to make hisory, Tamura-san?"

She cracked a demented smile, rubbing her hands together.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Later that night, I was on a three-way call with the others, going over the final plans for tomorrow. Hiyori managed to lift a set of the emergency procedures from her teacher, and we had reviewed them, finding a goldmine of information. It turned out that Ryoo High did indeed have a procedure for "armed assailants", but it was flawed. There were two areas of the school that had bulletproof, airtight doors, and room for large quantities of people.

Those two places were the cafeteria and the library. Due to an incident that happened last year, we found out that the cafeteria had no exhaust system, only intake. When the room is sealed off, any airborne contaminants would stay there, the incoming air pushing it down to the masses below. Perfect.

We had managed to get two canisters of tear gas from Hiyori's contacts, and we had secured them in Konata's backpack. She'd leave it in the cafeteria, then once the room gets sealed, we set it off and watch them suffer. It will be a glorious day indeed.

"Tsukasa, who are you on the phone with?" I froze, and turned around. Sis was standing less than a meter behind me, hands on her hips. Had she heard what was being said on the line...?

"Come on, we need to go to bed." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding. She was just as ignorant as the rest of them. I wouldn't shoot her though; I'm not a monster, I'm just kicking up natural selection a bit.

Sis stood there as I bid them goodnight, saying "We're still good for tomorrow, alright? Bye!" as I hung up. We got ready for bed, and Kagami went into her room. I did likewise, but I sat in the room with a flashlight, making sure that my backpack and slingbag was prepared for the grand event. I wasn't taking a lunch; no, I fully expected to not even make it out alive. It didn't even matter anymore. Now it was just personal revenge, a way to get even with those pieces of shit before we die.

The empty bags would be filled with bullets, shells, and bombs before entering the school property tomorrow.

At 11:05 A.M., we will begin our attack on the populace of Ryoo High.

**A/N: Like I said, not going to be pretty, and will most likely be 3 chapters, max. Next chapter is the...ahem..."meat" of the story, and will be much longer. This is just setting the stage for tragedy. Mentally disturbed Tsukasa is mentally disturbed. **


	2. Do It Once, Never Again

The Library

Chapter 2: Do it Once, Never Again

**  
A/N: Saw a big error in the last chapter, now fixed; it's to be mustard gas, not tear gas. Tear gas isn't lethal. Silly me. Hope you enjoy.**

3:03 A.M.

I rolled over in bed. I had been tossing and turning, and wasn't going to get any more sleep. I got up and stretched, looking at the clock. It was just past 3 in the morning.

I decided to check on the bags of goodies I had prepared the night before for my sempai to take to school. Konata's bag had canisters of mustard gas equipped with remote detonators.

Those had been an absolute nightmare to obtain. We ended up getting it from a chemist that my sempai held at gunpoint. The official story about his death is that he committed suicide. After all, why else would he go into a chamber only he was capable of locking from the inside and letting himself get hit by a plethora to toxic chemicals? Pretty obvious, but it keeps the heat off us. I feel kind of bad about it, but at the same time can't wait for the purge of all this stupidity.

I had my uniform already laid out, so I got dressed and began to fill my pockets. We has sewn secret pockets into our uniforms for all manner of things. I had ammo pouches in my shirt, my handkerchief had space to store a grenade against my chest, the waist of my skirt an additional 3 magazines for my rifle, and my shoes had blades built into the toes. If the magnets in the heels touched, the blade would release. That was Hiiragi-san's idea; she claims it will be for "making them wish they were dead". It's deliciously cruel, and I'm loving every minute of it.

After making sure nothing incriminating was peeking out of my shirt or skirt, I checked my bag. It looked normal, and upon a cursory inspection had nothing wrong with it; it was still overflowing with papers and drawings, as always. But if you knew where to look, you'd realize the layer of detritus was fake and peeled away easily. Below it were a dozen pipe bombs and the lighter to set them off.

I replaced the false bottom and moved to two piles of similar supplies. One for each of my sempai.

They couldn't risk bringing their supplies home, so they're coming here early under pretense of "Hiyori's alarm clock is broken, and she doesn't answer the phone, so we need to make sure she gets up". It'll fool everyone, and they'll get here and be able to load up with time to spare.

Konata is actually bringing two bags: the gas and the bombs. Both were padded and disguised as gym bags; the gas canisters, being roughly spherical, have been painted to look like medicine balls. The bombs are painted as tubes of tennis balls, and some real tubes of tennis balls have been added in case anyone asks to see them.

The last pile was Tsukasa's bag. She was going to be carrying the guns. When we started planning this, almost a year ago, we didn't think about space at the time. I had asked Daddy if I could go to the range and borrow some side-arms for protection, and Daddy had of course agreed, but I had procured some bulky rifles and handguns. I managed to swap out the bigger rifles for things we'd use in the following months, ending up with our current list of side-arms. We each were going to use an M4A1 CQBR carbine.

I had educated myself on the guns Daddy gave me, and I love these things. They're tiny, for one. The barrel is only 10.5 inches long, and I removed the stock from them as well, making them just 20.8 inches long. We wouldn't miss at the close ranges we were going to be shooting in; 20 meters at most. Daddy even considered that I wanted these for "home defense", since I live alone, and had his men fight them with suppressors! The gunshots don't even sound like gunshots; they're still loud, but not the same tone you'd be looking for. It was almost too perfect.

Tsukasa made a personal request for a shotgun as well, and while I thought that was odd, I got a shotgun from Daddy, who doesn't even seem to care that I had more guns than I did fingers by then. Being the illegitimate daughter of a crime lord had it's perks sometimes.

I got a semi-automatic combat shotgun from him, and we promptly sawed off the barrel and made it less than a foot long, small enough to be concealed under our uniform, which was exactly where sempai was putting it. The rifles were going into her bag, which would be kept in the shoe lockers until lunch. After lunch started, we were going to get the bag and start our fun in the hallways. Once everyone was "safely" locked in their prison, Konata was going to set off the mustard gas. We were going to then proceed to eliminate the rest of the populace of the school, classroom by classroom.

I only had one problem with it.

I picked up my cellphone and walked into the kitchen, dialing a number and looking to the clock.

3:53 A.M.

I spent close to an hour thinking, and it's finally happening.

The person on the other line answered with a groggy "uurghhmmphghugh?"

I swallowed. It was still really early. But I had to do this before the others start calling and arriving.

"Patty? It's Hiyori...can I talk to you for a minute?"

Silence for a minute, then finally "Sure, I'm awake now. What's up...kinda early to be calling me...?"

"Yeah, I guess so...um, are you going to school today?"

"...Yeah, why wouldn't I-"

"Don't." The rushed reply surprised the American, even in her half-asleep state.

"Why? Is something going on?"

I cursed internally. Don't let it get out!

"N-no...it's just that I actually like you a lot and I have a really bad feeling in my stomach and it's about school today and I'm afraid a lot of people are going to get hurt and I don't want you to be one of them and I don't want you to go to school today just to make sure."

It had just all poured out so quickly, both of the girls were stunned. Hiyori, for admitting that she liked her good friend Patricia Martin, and her for Hiyori's absolute steadfastness that she does not, under any circumstances, go to school that day. Okay, and maybe Hiyori admitting she liked her, but that wasn't even the main thing here. Actually, yes it was.

"Hiyori...are you telling the truth? You actually like me...that way?"

She could feel her cheeks turn red, and almost felt a nosebleed starting. In the smallest of small voices she returned with,

"Yes..."

Patty laughed, startling the meganekko.

"I was worried for a second that it was only me! Come on, wasn't it obvious? I like you too Hiyorin~! Hmmm..."

I leaned against the refrigerator, enjoying the cold against my back. I was starting to falter; I actually had a reason to live past today. Should I throw it away just to make a statement? No, no I shouldn't. All of this planning, all of this...I'm going to do it. Patty will be safe, and that will have to suffice.

"Yoohoo, you just went quiet again. What's got you all worked up, huh? Thinking of a new manga to make, hmm~?"

"Eep! No! I'm just...worried about you, Patty. Please, promise me you won't go to school today. Please. Just don't."

A couple more seconds of silence.

"Alright, I'll skip today, on one condition. You come visit me at work later today; you never have gone before, always making excuses. Now you don't have one."

My breath caught in my throat. Later today. Later today didn't exist for me, but I didn't want to lie to her. My stomach twisted, but I said it anyways, with an obviously forced sense of cheer accompanying it.

"Alright then! Sleep in, and I'll go there after I run some errands. Sound good to you Patty-chan?"

The soft laugh from the phone almost broke me. Almost, but not quite.

"Sure. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to sleep. Talk to you later Hiyorin~."

The line went dead.

"Love you too Patty..."

It would remain unrequited, but I can accept that. At least she knew, and she had promised to stay away from school today, so she was safe. I couldn't tell if her return of my feelings were done in a joking manner or not, but I knew I would never find out.

Oh well. It would be worth it.

Maybe.

4:19 A.M.

I was already dressed and ready to leave, but I was still in bed. I couldn't spring my excuse for needing to make sure Hiyori was up in time for school this early; I had to wait until at least 5:30 to leave. I was now sliding around in the settings in my phone. It was just to pass the time. I didn't care about anything I really had, wouldn't miss any of it. I had accepted death as an alternative long ago, maybe even before ever being subject to these fucking idiot's overbearing tendencies that must have made them feel like they were on top of the world. Maybe it was because I didn't see death as a permanent end. It's only the first step in the journey.

Hell, I was doing these assholes a favor by setting them free of their insignificant vessels of life they would otherwise be attached to for decades to come. You might say that's backwards, that's wrong, but if you did, you'd only further prove my point. The only thing holding the spirit of a being back is those around it. You think my opinion is wrong? How about I kill you? No, that doesn't sound good to you? Ah, I see. You don't go to Ryoo High.

Wait, you do? You just attempted to lie to me. You want to get out of the cleansing, don't you? Oh, no worries.

You'll die first. I will find you, and make sure I make you suffer. First your hands. Next to go will by your feet. After that, say goodvye to your arms. I hope you like buckshot femurs. Lower torso? Unnecessary. All you need is that delightfully screaming head. I'll keep it alive, just to hear the music to my ears that is your eternal suffering. If you do die, I'll make sure to find you in the next life too. I'll kill you again, just to make sure you understand. Make your adversity to my presence known and you will never be safe again. Overshadow me and I will be the knife in your back. Oops! Too late. You seem to be bleeding.

Your "loving" sister, probably your murderer,  
Tsukasa :D  
P.S: Fucking Kill Yourself  
P.P.S: Bitch.

I finished typing the text message to my sister, and saved it as a Draft. About a minute before we started our fun, I was going to send it to her. Just to see her face. I would relish in it. Or was that the blood that would be spilling from her wounds? I couldn't decide, so I decided it to be both.

I looked at the clock.

5:31 A.M.

I jumped out of bed, fixed my hair, greeted my mother in the kitchen, gave the rehearsed excuse, which was of course taken at face value and nothing else. I ate a bowl of rice, picked up my bag, and left quickly, before the mindless prissy woman that birthed me could figure out that anything was wrong. I took out a pen and wrote the words "If you miss me, you're a liar" on the front door. I turned and left without looking back.

You know what that family needs to be? Dead. Worthless, mindless, stereotypical close-minded idiots who watched the TV like it was a fucking hypnotist's pendulum. They needed to wake the fuck up, and I was going to be the one to do it. Maybe even engage in some awesome postmortem...yes. YES. YES!

I skipped all the way to Hiyori's apartment, barely containing my excitement pertaining to the events to come.

5:47 A.M.

I awoke to the sound of retching through the wall. I got up, not even the slightest bit tired. I was so anxious, I couldn't care about sleeping. Fuck, even if I did get tired, it wasn't like it was going to matter. I went into the hallway and opened the door to Yutaka's room slowly.

She was sitting on the edge of her bed, leaning over a bucket. I flicked the lights on, causing her to look up. Her eyes watered in the light, but she still looked at me with a weak smile.

"I don't think I want to go to school today onii-chan..." I almost laughed. The one real worry I had about any of this was accidentally hurting Yu-chan, and now that wouldn't even happen. Everything was perfect. I just sat down on the bed next to her, reach around with one shoulder, and gave her a squeeze.

"You don't have to Yu-chan, it's not the end of the world...but you'll be home alone; dad stayed overnight in his editor's loft to make that deadline, and he won't be home until tonight. Are you okay with being home alone all day?"

She bit her lip, but gasped and looked nervous. "Well, I could ask Minami-chan if she could come over...but that would mean she'd be skipping class..." I got up and grabbed her cell phone off of her nightstand, handing it to her.

"Why don't you just ask her yourself? I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

I waited with bated breath as she selected the mint-haired girl's number from the quick dial number and called the number.

I left the room as the phone began to ring, giving her a bit of privacy. I went back to my room and got my uniform on, making sure all of the newly-sewn parts of it stood up to the stress they would undergo. I didn't have to worry though; Hiyori's skills as a seamstress were quite good. Some of the cosplays she had made needed to be seen to be believed.

I stopped.

It was easy to get caught up in it all, but was it really worth it? To throw away the life I had been living, to die for a cause that may or may not ever bear fruit? Sure, she was hounded and picked on and put down all the time, but the same hobbies and interests that brought so much heat to her were her ways of dealing with it. The cycle was basically endless, and she didn't like taking insults as much as the next person, but what was it that told her to do it? To plan, and today, execute the plan, to kill dozens; no, kill hundreds of her fellow students.

It was revenge. She might not hold grudges to any one person, but thoughts of revenge on random people, faceless enemies, would always plague her. This would be the ultimate payback. Maybe it would incite new laws to help restrict things like this from ever happening again.

But they had to happen first.

Steeling myself, I decided, once and for all, that I was going to see it through. It meant almost certain death, but if it meant even the slim possibility of reform and future generations never having to experience the same feelings we have, then it was worth it. We'll be murderers and martyrs at the same time. How ironic.

"Onii-chan!" I went back into Yu-chan's room. She was back in bed, the bucket next to her bed. It smelled of bile in the room, but she didn't seem to notice. She was smiling, as much as she could be while on the verge of hurling again.

"Minami-chan said she'll skip Gym to come visit me, and since that's the period before lunch, she'll have lunch with me too! Is that okay with you onii-chan?"

I laughed. "Yeah, anything's fine. Will you be able to get up to open the door for her? There's not really anywhere to put a spare key..."

She nodded. "I think I'll be good enough to do that by then..." She was beginning to look tired, and her eyes started to droop. She quickly nodded off, and fell asleep, even with the lights on. I gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead, and held her close.

"...I'll miss you Yu-chan..."

With a final squeeze, I let go of her, turned off the lights, and exited the room. I went to the kitchen and made myself some ramen. While waiting for the water to absorb, I looked at the clock.

6:14 A.M.

I had to leave by 6:30 to get to Hiyori's by 6:45, and we'd get to school at about 7:20 and be able to stash everything accordingly before homeroom. I was mostly worried about the canisters of mustard gas. We were going to melt the plastic zippers with a lighter after we put the canisters in the bags, so they would be effectively sealed, but not airtight, so the gas would still be able to disperse after I blew the valves open, which would most likely also tear a hole in the bag. I was only worried about the bags being moved out of the cafeteria before the time came, and when I set it off, it goes into the ventilation system and kills us too.

The main ventilation system had 3 loops: one each for the cafeteria and library, and then one central loop for the rest of the school. The other buildings each had their own system, which was much simpler.

I ate while weighing the odds of the bags being moved or not. As I finished I decided that I'd put the bag under the stacks of extra seats in the corner. It wouldn't be seen unless someone looked for it, and it was heavy enough to deter anyone from trying to take it out of the room.

Getting my bags and writing a fare-well note on the computer, I sent it out to my closest online friends, before printing a copy and putting it on the keyboard. I then shut the computer down, took out the hard drive, and put it in a pencil case in my bag.

No one was ever getting the information that was in there. Over my dead body...literally. I don't think hard drives work that well when they have bullet holes in them.

I didn't even bother taking my key to get back in. I wouldn't need it, after all. I did, however, take my wallet, but not before putting the majority of the money into Yu-chan's wallet. She'd need it more than I did; I only needed one last train fare.

I took a deep breath as I opened the door to leave. I looked back, to the interior of the house I would never see again.

I let the door slam shut behind me, and started walking towards Hiyori's apartment. I didn't look back.

**A/N: Yeah, you probably expected some violence in this chapter. No such luck. Better luck next time? Who knows. Drop a review if you'd like, and hope you enjoyed! **


	3. When Standing on Hot Coals

The Library

Chapter 3: When Standing on Hot Coals, a Second is like an Eternity

**A/N: I was blindsided by writer's block this week. It was bad. :0 But I fought it like one of your French girls and got it painted. (wow, that's a bad pun; I hope at least one person gets it)**

"Help me put these in here." Konata was struggling to put the canisters in the bag, so I stopped stashing ammo in my shirt to help her with it. I held the bag open, while she carefully lowered the canisters of gas into the bag, valve on top. I zipped the bag closed, while she picked up a lighter from the table and snapped it open. I moved my hands away from the zipper, and she proceeded to melt the cheap plastic zippers closed. After putting the small flame away, we checked the seal. There were holes, but nothing could be seen through it and it could not be pulled open.

I chuckled. Everything was going according to plan. These two cans of mustard gas would be unleashed in a confined space, making for a very interesting result.

I laughed out loud. I saw Hiyori look at me oddly, but I didn't care. I was getting all giddy, and proceeded to take the sawed-off shotgun from the table and put it down my shirt. I secured it with velcro straps so it would not be recognizable, and the shirt was baggy enough that it didn't seem to be any different in shape.

"How do I look?" Konata gave me a once-over, before grunting and giving me the thumbs-up. I looked in the mirror on the wall, and could just barely see the faintest bulge of a corner of the barrel, which she rectified with an additional velcro strap wrapped around her body. It was now invisible to the naked eye, and she would sit in class with the shotgun and all of the ammo for it on her. She would have to be extra careful not to trip or fall, because that would expose some things that weren't meant to be seen. If that happened, the festivities might start a little early, and that might throw off the plan in the cafeteria.

I grabbed the normal book bag that Hiyori had laid on the counter, opening it and inspecting the contents. As expected, three fully automatic rifles with suppressors were inside. There were several magazines inside for each of them, and we would each be carrying even more ammo for easy access.

I opened my own book bag and emptied the needless collection of broken pencils, erasers, and papers onto the floor, sweeping the mess underneath the table with my foot. I began systematically filling the bag's main compartment with the home-made pipe bombs we had constructed over the past year or more. Taking a few at a time, I soon managed to fit 31 of them into the bag, but had to remove 5 of them after the bag looked suspicious from the outside. Twenty six was still quite a good number. I opened the smaller compartment in the front of the bag and cleaned it out by hand, replacing its' contents with shotgun shells.

I had requested a shotgun for one specific reason. I wanted to watch my victims suffer. I took pride in knowing that their deaths would be slow and immeasurably painful. The pain they felt was the ties to their physical bodies being ripped away by a higher power. I was the one who was going to control when they died. I might even leave a few to writhe in agony as they slowly bleed out, before finally succumbing to their injuries. Actually...

"Hiyori, would you happen to have any lemon juice around?" The brunette looked up from her own preparations; she had been fitting more ammo into the recesses of her uniform.

"Pardon?" I felt a vein twitch in my forehead. Had she not heard me? No matter; I can't get worked up over nothing.

"Lemon juice. If you do, put some in a squirt bottle for me." She opened the cabinets, looking around. She wasn't sure about the request, but she wasn't about to deny the purple-haired girl when she was standing next to a bag full of loaded guns.

She found what she was looking for behind a bottle of vinegar. Pulling out the antiquated bottle, she looked at it. Judging by the style of the logo, it might have even been left there by the previous inhabitant of the apartment.

Grabbing a small squirt bottle she used to clean the windows with, she screwed off the top and dumped the contents of the bottle into it. It filled it completely, and there was a small portion left. Screwing the top back on, she handed it to the girl, who looked into it. She grinned in a sadistic manner.

"Tell me, Hiyori-san, do you know what hurts the most on a wound?" She wasn't sure, but it didn't sound like a critical life-or-death question.

"Um, I'd guess salt? Maybe alcohol?" She knew that rubbing alcohol hurt like a mother on cuts.

The smile on Tsukasa's face grew wider, rivaling a Glasgow Grin.

"No. Citric Acid. Like lemon juice, for example. I might leave a couple of those sniveling fucks alive, only so I can spray this in their eyes and wherever I decide to put a nice collection of slugs in them."

!LINE BREAK!

After getting as much of the supplies into the bags and on our persons, we still had about a dozen pipe bombs on the table. We tied all of the fuses together and brought the combined bunch of them outside of Hiyori's apartment, into the hallway. Tsukasa pointed to the stairway, the only way to get to this floor. We stashed the bundle in a cranny between the stairwells, wedging it in place.

"Konata, the slow-burning fuse." I grabbed said fuse from my bag and handed it to Tsukasa. She wrapped a length of it around the bundle, before leading it back and into the small space in the wall.

"Let's go." We didn't need to be told twice.

We went back to Hiyori's apartment and gathered our bags. I picked up the bag which contained the canisters and slung it over my right shoulder, my other bag, full to the brim with ammunition going over the left. Hiyori grabbed her bag with the rifles, and Tsukasa grabbed the bombs. We exited the apartment, shutting the door softly behind us. They walked down the stairs to the lobby, and I leaned against the railing until I saw them come out onto the sidewalk.

I took out a lighter and carefully lit the length of fuse, before curling it back into the space in the wall. It would burn at a rate of approximately one 2 centimeters per minute, and there was about 50 centimeters of fuse before it got to the normal fuse we had put in the bombs. I took off down the stairs, putting out the lighter and stowing it in my bag. I would need it soon.

!LINE BREAK!

Hiyori's house was close enough to the school that we were walking. We probably would have walked anyways; our bags might have attracted some unwanted attention on the train. It was only a few minutes after we began our brisk walk towards the school that the distinctive explosion was heard, and not long after that, a cacophony of sirens began. A few ambulances raced by us as we waited to use a crosswalk, closely followed by several police cars.

Upon getting to the opposite side of the street and continuing on, Tsukasa laughed out loud.

"You know girls, I think we may have started the party earlier than expected. There might have been people on the stairs, or even better, in the apartment closest to the stairwell. Crushed beneath tons of drywall...makes me giddy!" She laughed, and I chuckled. When you live in such a heavily populated place, I guess the thought of the loss of one or two lives just becomes trivial. The lives would soon be replaced by healthy newborns, who would maybe grow up to be better people than the ones we were hopefully going to remove from the whole 'life' equation.

I was aware that I was totally numb to the value, or maybe the lack thereof, of a human life, but it was too late to fix that.

Turning another corner, we came into view of the school. Only two people were ahead of us on the way in the main doors. They had not seen us yet.

It was our friend Miyuki and her neighbor, not to mention Yutaka's friend, Iwasaki-san.

We opened our shoe lockers and began organizing supplies, while Miyuki accompanied Iwasaki to her locker, which was out of our line of sight.

Hiyori went to the end of the aisle after dropping her bag, glancing over.

"Hurry!" She whispered as I put her bag and the ammo into my locker, while Tsukasa put the bombs into her own locker. We managed to get our lockers closed and locked before Hiyori started talking to Minami, most likely trying to give a distraction. She came back to us, her eyes closing in relief for a split second before coming up to us, still talking to Minami about her day.

"You're working in the nurse's office? That's great, you must be such a great help!" The mint-haired girl just nodded, and waved to all of us, nodded to me, and walked off into the depths of the school.

Miyuki, who had seen the exchange, adjusted her glasses and blushed.

"Sorry about that, Minami-san is a nice person, she just doesn't do well around people she doesn't know...Oh, Konata-san, are you trying out for track today?"

I looked down, the bag with the canisters in them still sitting at our feet. I glanced to Tsukasa, waiting for confirmation; I got the tiniest nod, so I rolled with the lie.

"Yeah, Yuki-chan, I figured that I might as well have something to show for by the time we graduate, right?" Yuki-chan ate the misinformation right up, nodding a few times.

"Good, good...you're so athletic, you'll do fine, I'm sure. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to bring some papers to the student council room. I'll see you in class Izumi-san, Hiiragi-san." She waved goodbye to us, before taking her bag and likewise entering the school proper and vanishing from our sight.

As soon as she left, we started walking as one for the cafeteria.

"That was close...is Yuki-chan on your list Tsukasa?" I looked to her; she was stepping on the lines in between tiles. She glanced at me, here face a grim slash of determination. She had obviously thought about it.

Miyuki Takara was probably the only person out of the whole school who was near the point of perfection. I had eyes for her, but knew my crush would never come to fruition; she was too pure of heart to think to engage in homosexual tendencies. I had once had a conversation with her on that very topic. Her personal opinion was that if it made both parties happy, then there was nothing you could do about it, but she herself was thoroughly opposed to taking part in any of it. I left it well enough alone, accepting that she would never be mine. Didn't stop me from looking, of course.

Tsukasa finally responded, after having mulled over her response.

"No, Konata, but she might get caught in the middle of it. She's the opposite of the scum around here; she's a model student, is charitable, and would never want to offend anyone. But this is for the greater good, and if it has to happen...it'll happen."

Hiyori, walking slightly behind us, sighed. It sounded like she didn't like the idea of the pink-haired girl getting hurt either. We all just kind of shrugged, and walked into the cafeteria.

It was completely empty, the cooks would not begin preparing the lunch until about nine o'clock, and students with spare time occasionally hung out in the room before class started. It was still too early for that, though, and I started picking my way through the tables to get the the back corner, near the garbage chutes that emptied into dumpsters outside the building. Beside the chutes were stacks of extra chairs, kept in case of an event. They were usually used for graduation and school events, then placed back in their spots of solitude. Tsukasa lifted one such stack of chairs and maneuvered the bag to the point that it was roughly in a ball shape. Tsukasa replaced the stack of chairs over it, and I moved the bag further back against the wall with my foot. We walked away, trying to figure out what distance you needed to be to see the gym bag underneath the chairs.

It turns out you couldn't.

With that completed, we left the room before anyone saw us, going our respective ways and heading for homeroom.

By the time we arrived, students were starting to flood into the school. The hallway into our homeroom was starting to get crowded, and I walked in front of Tsukasa so no one would bump into her and get the special surprise inside.

We sat down in the room, and we immediately both looked at the clock.

7:47 A.M.

Just under 3 and a half hours until the world gets turned upside down. I left to go the the bathroom before class started, but it was really just to look in the mirror, and reflect.

I fished the home-made detonator for the gas out of my interior pocket Hiyori had made. I looked at the simple device. It was a circuit board powered by a watch battery, with a switch and a radio transmitter operating on a super low frequency, making it virtually impossible for the signal to fail. I had made this one originally so it would close my blinds in my room; I had taken a Roomba apart and used the motors and wheels to rig a wheel-and-axle that had 3 positions: UP, DOWN, and OFF. Now I was holding the valve control for canisters of deadly mustard gas. Literally, I was holding the lives of hundreds in the tiny device. I stared at the small blue circuit board some more, before pocketing it, and looking into the mirror, back into my own green eyes.

They didn't show uncertainty. They showed The look of a tired elder who simply had lived enough and wished to become one with the World around them. It wasn't age, or even personality.

I was sick of the system. All of it. The world was stagnating, and I wanted out. By staying in the realm of fantasy, I was able to avoid the inevitable truth: I didn't belong here. Someone, somewhere, would save the system, make it all work again. It wasn't going to be me, but I didn't mind quickening the appearance of this person a nice large dose of anarchy.

It sure does suck that us humans are so vengeful. I feel kind of dirty now. I had a private laugh, as even my thoughts were contradicting my feelings. I was going to enjoy this, in all honesty.

I washed my hands, as a metaphor for the dirtying of our hands with the sins we were going to commit, or some self-serving bullshit like that, before sneaking back into the room as Ms. Kuroi stumbled into class, hungover as usual.

As I sat down, I felt the unseen clutter on me knock against me, ever so slightly. It felt like it was the weight of the world, and I was struggling to breathe beneath it. In a way, it was; we were making a point here, a fatal, unforgettable point. That grenade resting against the collarbone was also drawing my attention.

I looked to Tsukasa, who was sitting straight up, doodling in her notebook. I looked to the clock again.

7:56 A.M.

It was going to be the longest 3 hours of our lives. Or what was left of them, at least.

**A/N: Woo, these characters are hard to write. I had this written with Suicidal Konata and Feral Tsukasa trading POV's, but then switched it to just Anarchist Konata; it flows much better. **

**Hope you enjoyed it, please review if you feel so inclined, and know that the next chapter won't take as long, and might even get a glimpse of action! :O So on that note, I bid thee good day. –tips hat-**


	4. Put into Practice

The Library

Chapter 4: Put into Practice

**A/N: Alright, no more of this beating around the bush. It's go time. I have to fix a continuity error in chapter 1 in order for this to work correctly: I'm changing it to both Hiyori and Konata have the same outcast profile, so to speak. I swapped them accidentally during the last chapter, but I like it better this way; the moe excuse wasn't going to fly with what I have in mind...random side note: wrote this while listening to the album Robot Brainstronaut Blastoff! by Renard. It's awesome.**

10:47 A.M.

I thought I was going to collapse from exhaustion. Our class had P.E. right before lunch, and I was now in the changing room, trying to calm my heart rate. Out of my friends, I was the only one in class. I had made sure Patty...yeah..., and Minami skipped it, as unbecoming of her that was. She said she was going to visit Yutaka-san, who was sick today, so I thought it was okay after all. She'd be off of school grounds for a while...

It was today, of course, that they did the 1000M Dash. She had done okay, finishing in the middle of the class, faster than Ibuki-san, but slower than the track star Yamato-san. It killed her sides though, and she had managed to make the excuse of forgetting her inhaler in her shoe-locker, allowing her to offload all of her supplies in her shoe locker before they went out to the field.

I had been feigning a limp ever since I finished though, and I managed to make my way over to the teacher.

"Sensei? My leg hurts a lot, can I go to the nurse?" The short blonde-haired volleyball coach looked up.

"What's that Miss...? The nurse? Yeah, whatever..." She didn't have eyes for anyone but the athletic students, and for once, I was okay with the favoritism. Her "stars" were definitely going to get targeted by Hiiragi-sempai, for one.

She had a few screws loose, but then again, so do the rest of us. With the "moment of truth" coming even closer, I could feel my heart speed up, and it had nothing to do with the physical exertion.

As soon as I was out of the track fields, I practically sprinted into the gym and walked quickly down to the shoe lockers, grabbing my uniform and the supplies, going into the bathroom off of the room and changing.

I might have looked suspicious, but no one had been looking. I had taken care of that the day before, not mentioning it to either of them; wouldn't want to worry their little heads about it. I helped out in the main office for extra credit, and had a key to the room where they stored all of their office supplies. The controls for the surveillance system were also in that room, and it had been the simple matter to remove the disk it would write to, and display the tape of a day a few months ago that I lifted from the room when we had finally gotten the plan into its' final stages.

I didn't say anything for a reason; if they didn't know, they couldn't screw it up. No one's perfect, but that sure as hell helped scramble the enemy's counterattack, if you could call it that. The best offense is a good defense, after all.

As I finished stuffing the grenade into my handkerchief, the lunch bell rang, and I looked up, into the mirror, straightened my hair, cleaned my glassed, grinned, and left the room, looking for all the world to be another student ready to get lunch.

Sorry, I'm on a liquid diet. Of blood, bile, and pureed brain matter.

10:55 A.M.

Listening to the stupid drunk ramble on about how the Americans won the war against Britain made me want to pull out the shotgun and murder her on the spot. She was so irritatingly stupid; it was a miracle that she ever graduated from school herself, never mind get a job teaching these assholes.

My back had started to cramp from sitting in the exact position that hid the gun entirely, but I didn't dare stretch; the barrels might poke through the top of the shirt, or a strap might become visible, being black against the white shirt.

I looked down into my notebook. I had been taking "notes", but the entire page was covered in drawings of screaming heads and demons. Quite the indicative factor of what was about to happen, I think. I looked to the clock again. The bell would ring any minute, and they would go down to the shoe lockers, where they would start their main event.

I set down my pencil, stretching my fingers. They would need to be nice and nimble to handle the trigger and grab shells from my pockets and bag to reload quickly.

I looked over to Konata.

!LINE BREAK!

I looked over to Tsukasa. She was looking back at me. She nodded at the clock. I knew that there was 5 minutes left. I also knew that I had slept for most of the time in class. In an odd act of kindness, or something, Kuroi-san let me sleep.

I was kind of jittery about that because she was one of the people I sent my ***sa*e* W*r** and ***n**s* *t** *n*i** account information to, along with the message that I wouldn't need them any more. If she had checked her e-mail this morning, she would know something was up. We couldn't have that.

I laid back in my desk, stretching my hands across it. Grabbing the front edge of it, I pulled back, cracking my back in a few places, and both my elbows, my wrists, and even my left shoulder. It felt good, and loosened up my joints for what came next.

Then the lunch bell rang.

Most of the class started to file out of the door, heading down to lunch. It was just myself, Yuki-chan, and Tsukasa. Tsukasa got up and stretched with her back to Miyuki, who had started on her lunch. I walked over to her, trying to avoid eye contact.

"...Aren't you going to have something to eat Izumi-san?" She noticed I didn't have anything, but I wasn't hungry. I didn't know what to say; I was at a loss for words.

Tsukasa rescued me, turning around and addressing me.

"Konata, I forgot my lunch in my shoe locker, would you come with me to go get it? We'll be right back Miyuki-san; if it takes a bit, blame that terrible lunch crowd!" She had a false sweetness that was glaringly obvious, but not to Miyuki.

"Alright, I'll be here. Try not to hurt yourself in those crowds Hiiragi-san." The pink-haired angel retrieved a book from her bag and opened it, beginning to read it as she ate her lunch, while we made our way into the hallway.

We took the back stairwell to the ground floor, avoiding the massive traffic jams that normally happened daily. We got to the shoe lockers to see Hiyori leaning sideways against the lockers, her bag already in her hands. We were alone now, and we stood out of any lines of sight into the room. I opened my locker and grabbed the bag of ammo, and Tsukasa did likewise with her bag of bombs. We looked at each other, the noise of the crowds rushing over us from the hallway outside. Tsukasa took out a pipebomb, while Hiyori sighed, unzipping her bag and readying the rifles. I opened my bag and scrounged around for the lighter, before I switched bags with Tsukasa.

I now had the bombs and the lighter, and she had the ammo. She was going to be in front of us, so we could reload while she covered us at any time. It was simple, efficient, and deadly.

Hiyori handed me the small rifle with an attached shoulder sling, and I put it over my head, feeling it come to a rest against my right side. I grabbed a magazine from the ammo bag and inserted it into the rifle until it clicked, and held the gun properly as I pulled the charging handle back, chambering the first round.

Hiyori did the same, and we checked around us as Tsukasa undid her shirt partially to remove the shotgun and check it, before handing Hiyori the gun so she could button her shirt again.

Taking the gun back, we went to the end of the aisle. Peering into the main area, we could see the thriving mob still attempting to get into the lunchroom from the back entrance. It had to be nearly full by now. The sheer amount of people jostling together was larger than usual, which actually boded well for us.

We drew our heads out of view and looked at each other.

"I'll do it."

Tsukasa grabbed my lighter and the pipe-bomb I had been holding. She lit it and after a split-second threw it as hard as she could. It sailed through the air, landing in the edge of the crowd.

The concussive wave from the explosion was devastating in the confined area. The walls, the ceiling, even the floor about five meters away was now covered in a stew of entrails, limbs, and shredded clothing, and at the edge of the blast radius, there was a girl with her legs blown off trying to crawl away, screaming the whole time.

The noise in the hallway had instantly turned from shouts and conversation to a deafening scream of a hundred voices of terror and fear. An alarm started to sound in the hallway; one even I was delighted to hear: the lockdown siren. Our plan had worked. People were now squeezing into the already packed cafeteria, turning into animalistic shells of whatever ignorant things they were before, and those who had been just outside the bomb's radius were staring at us in panic, unsure of whether to run or plead for their lives. They had nowhere to run to; the wall of people was quite solid.

Tsukasa started to walk forward, shotgun trained on them, and half a step behind her, I did the same as Hiyori. Tsukasa passed me the lighter, which I slipped into my pocket, as Tsukasa stopped in front of the girl who was stil screaming in agony. We still kept our guns trained on the upperclassmen; I recognized one from riding the same train to school. His eyes were pleading with me, like he could get out of his punishment. What a fool. He brought this on himself.

!LINE BREAK!

She was a first year; an American, here on foreign exchange. Her legs were ragged stumps, missing from just below the knee, and nowhere to be found. I flipped her on her back with my foot, and when she started screaming again, I knelt down and punched her in the face, breaking her nose as I did so; I felt it crunch. She seized up, before starting to pant and whimper. Still better than screaming like a sniveling bitch. I could still hear it from the stupid fucks trying to escape the "bombers" and "terrorists" and get in the cafeteria. They were too stupid for their own good, and would need to be put down like the dogs they are. But one thing at a time.

"What's your name, girl?" Her eyes fluttered open; brown orbs of innocence and pain. What a lucky combination.

"R...nngh...R...mpgh...Rachel." She was struggling on the edge of shock, and I gave her some merit for not going over.

"Last name." It wasn't a question. It wasn't a request. It was a command. To be followed or face the consequences.

"...Sc...Scott...AGH!" She opened her mouth to scream again, so I punched her again, knocking out her front teeth and slamming her head into the floor, causing blood to leak out of her skull. Well, that's no fun. She struggled to get up, but her muscles spasmed, causing her to fall back, bring forth only grunts of pain, the strength to scream draining from the decimated girl. Oh dear, I think I might have broken her. Humans are so fragile, aren't we?

I got up, wiping her blood and mucus from my handling of her on her shirt.

"Well, Rachel Scott, say hello to your favorite higher power for me."

BANG.

I let loose a burst with the shotgun, turning the girl's head and upper chest into a ground up pile of bloody mush. The mass of students still hadn't changed much; as expected, the room was over capacity, which was 460 people. Fantastic.

The screaming escalated as soon as I fired; they knew what was coming, and the crowd at the other end of the hallway was unaware of what was happening, not moving away from the danger that was us. All the better.

A series of clangs echoed through the hall, and the crowd began to push into the main school building, no longer able to enter the cafeteria.

Those clangs were all of the lockdown doors closing. Now the interior of the school, and the library and cafeteria, were shut off from the outside world.

I turned to Konata.

"Flip the switch."

!LINE BREAK!

"Flip the switch."

I took out the transmitter, and looked the upperclassmen in the face, put on my best sadistic smile, and held the device aloft in front of my face as I flicked the switch from OFF to UP.

**A/N: Uh oh, shit's going down. Google Rachel Scott, you'll figure out why I chose that name. Hope you enjoyed, leave a review if you desire, I would appreciate it, and until next time, make sure to read the instructions on your microwave! Things might get messy otherwise.**


	5. Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter

The Library

Chapter 5: Can't Spell Slaughter Without Laughter

**A/N: Well, this escalated quickly. Hope you enjoy this wonderful piece of questionable sanity.**

"What are you waiting for? Gun them down. They're breathing our air." I could see their pupils dilate; they had to be the size of dinner plates. I laughed. The smell of fear wafting off of them was almost palpable. Delightful!

I looked to Konata, who was flicking the safety off on her rifle. I shrugged, did the same, and took aim. There was no way we were going to miss at this range.

"Please, don't shoot!" Today must be opposite day, because I pulled the trigger and sent a bullet right through his skull. I was on semi-auto fire, only using one bullet to kill him. Konata was a little bit more overzealous, gunning down the other two and firing into the crowd in the distance. A few people went down and the screaming got louder and more panicked. The last remnants of the crowd split at the fork at the end of the hallway, heading into the main building halls.

We started forward, walking around the bodies of those who had been shot. Except Tsukasa of course, who stepped right on them, and in the case of one guy who had been shot in the legs but wasn't dead, kicked him. When he grunted in pain, she shot him in the face and moved on. Her shoes and legs were already covered in red. None of it her own.

At the end of the hallway we paused at the cafeteria doors, listening inside. There were screams, coughing, yells, crying, and retching. That gas must have gone off.

Tsukasa gave us the nod forward, and we walked around the corner. There was no one in sight and someone had shut the doors to the stairwells and barricaded them, by the looks of it.

"Konata, blow open that door. C'mon Hiyori, we're gonna check the rooms down here." She nodded to the main office and staff rooms.

We moved to the office, where the door was locked, but a small pool of blood was present on the floor in front of it. I still wasn't going to mention my key, but I didn't even have it on me today. Tsukasa shot the lock with her gun and kicked the door open. That works too, I guess.

We stopped. We could hear heavy breathing. A second later, we heard the bomb go off and the doors hitting the walls, or the floor. They hit something, and hard. Tsukasa moved out the door, but nodded for me to stay where I was.

"Get in here! Woah, nice job on those doors." I kept a constant watch on the room. There were several desks everywhere, and I was getting paranoid. It was just so empty...all of it.

"Light one up and throw it in. Someone's in there, but we don't know where." Konata obliged, lighting the fuse and throwing the pipe into the middle of the room while we crouched behind a filing cabinet.

The scream of agony that accompanied the shock wave and maelstrom of shit flying around was indicative that we got our person, but they weren't dead yet. Tsukasa got up to finish the job.

!LINE BREAK!

Oh, how cute. The desk the small girl was hiding under had splintered apart, and she was pinned to the ground by a section of it, while her face was full of wood! Joyous day! Her leg appeard to be twisted a way it shouldn't go, and glass shards from a computer screen laid scattered on the ground around her. A shame, really. Truly, I have to put her out of her misery now. I think I'm going to the underworld for this. Hah.

BANG.

There, now some metal joined the wood. There's not quite enough of it to start an alternative death metal band, but maybe enough for some country metal? That exists, right?

"Alright, lets get upstairs for the real fun. Konata, do you have any extra lighters?" We went back to the doors that Konata had thoroughly blown open, entering the stairwell to the upper floors. She passed one to me, along with a pipe-bomb made out of a 90 degree bend as we got to the second floor. The doors couldn't be locked from the inside, so we just strolled right in. I went along the lockers, peering through the classroom window. It was dark inside, but I caught movement from underneath a desk.

I grinned. I was going to love this.

I tried the door. Locked, of course. So I smashed the window with the grip of the shotgun and reached in and unlocked it. I pushed the door open, but gave the other two a shake of the head so they wouldn't follow. I knelt down and looked underneath the desks. In the dark, it was hard to tell if anyone was there, but I knew there was. I stood up and made to walk out. I had the widest grin I've ever had plastered to my face.

I said out loud, to no one in particular, "It kind of sucks that these people won't even stand up to look at their foe. Worthless, all of them."

I lit the pipe bomb and tossed it over my shoulder, hearing people scramble in the room. I laughed, and walked out, closing the door behind me.

The explosion shattered the windows next to us, but some of the shards that fell were tinted red, falling to the ground in an intricate mosaic of white and red. I heard yet more pleas and screams, not only from that room, but other rooms further down the hall. Almost a game of cat and mouse, wasn't it? Though, most times, that cat doesn't have explosives, and the mouse isn't dumber than a sack of hammers. I almost feel bad for them.

Oh wait, no I don't! I laughed, and waved Hiyori and Konata along to the next room. The lights were still on, and there wasn't anyone in the room, so I just shot out the windows, walked in the room, took a desk, and threw it out the window, hearing it land on a car, setting off its' alarm.

That's normal, right? I sent Hiyori out into the hallway to the next room, and I got another bomb from Konata, holding it in one hand and the shotgun in the other. I got on my knees and crawled into the next room, calling out.

"Help! The shooters...they're coming!"

A figure emerged out of the darkness, moving quietly towards me.

"Are you injured? Where are they?" Their whisper came from the left, and I was in the dark now as well, so it was easier to see who it was.

Sakuraba-sensei. My sister's teacher. I was going to enjoy this immensely. I curled up in a ball, concealing the gun and bomb against my chest, waiting to see if she recognized me.

..."Hiiragi, is that you? Are you all right?" I felt the older woman touch my hair. Alright, show's over. I rolled over onto my back holding the shotgun up, aiming at the older woman.

"I'm fine, but you're about to fucking die." I heard her gasp, but nothing else. The gunshot drowned that out. All of the pellets hit her in the chest. She went flying backwards, hitting the wall, before dropping to the floor. I heard others in the room, so I rolled towards the desks and fired into the rows, getting a few hits and cries of pain.

I got up, seeing a hand flap out into the space between rows. I moved over and crushed it under my heel. The hard molded heel went right through the skin, breaking the tissue and hitting the bone.

No response though. They must have been dead. A shame, to be sure. I would miss the owner of the hand quite dearly. Maybe I'll send them a boquet of flowers in the next life. Maybe some "forgetmenots"? How about some "Ijustmurderedyou's"? Hm, okay, so no flowers.

I opened the classroom door after making sure Sakuraba-sensei was dead. She sure looked it. I never liked her. She favorited people so much that she almost failed Matsuri because she missed one homework. Well, now she can favorite the corpses around her. Stupid bitch.

Konata chuckled and pointed back as we moved up to the next room.

"Some nice acting Tsukasa. You had me going there for a second." She giggled a bit more, and we checked the next room.

It was empty, as was the next one. It had now gone very quiet, our own footsteps the loudest things. We reached the end of the hallway, and entered the next stairwell to go up to the third floor. It wasn't locked, leading me to believe that only one of the last people to go through it had the intelligence to realize they should lock the doors. Idiots.

All the better for us!

The third floor had the club rooms and other miscellaneous rooms used from time to time. I had an idea for anyone who might be up here. I turned to the others, speaking in a hushed voice.

"I'm going to play innocent. I bet I can get some of the dumb bastards to come out of the rooms. Sneak to the other end and stay out of sight. After about 45 seconds, walk down the hall, shoot off a couple rounds, pick up my gun, and exit through the doors over there. Get onto the stairs themselves and get low. I'll yell when we're going to kill them. Oh, and make sure to yell, be really melodramatic, that sort of thing." I set down my gun around the corner and ran forward, feigning heavy breathing. I went to the first room that was dark, and leaned up against the door. It was locked.

"Is there anyone in there? Please! Let me in! I think the killers are coming this way!" Nothing, but after a second the door opened and I fell into the room, pulled in by several hands, and I heard the door click shut behind me.

"Oh, I should've known. It's that bitch Hiiragi. Toss her out Rai, maybe the killers will take her instead and let us beauties live. Maybe even they know how much better we are than her."

I clenched my teeth, and felt my blood run cold.

Ayano Minegishi. The biggest slut in the school. Oh, happy _fucking _day. This cunt really needs to get crucified or something. I feel like shooting her in the face isn't trying hard enough. Oh wait! I have the lemon juice! Sweet.

She was sitting in the corner, surrounded by several of the fashionistas or whatever the fuck they were called. They were stupid and didn't understand that society had no place for them.

"Are you going to even respond, Hiiragi? Or is silence just your way of saying that you agree with me—"

Konata and Hiyori started their act, and I sat up, revelling in the terrified look on the ginger slut's face. It was such a shame we were going to rearrange it in more than a few ways.

An explosion shook the room and shattered the glass, causing it to fall on the slut's boy toy, but he managed to keep his mouth shut, despite bleeding visibly even in the low light. As they passed the classroom one of them, I couldn't tell which one, shot full-auto into the room at head height, hitting nothing but scaring the shit out of the slut.

They moved on to the next room, and I got up, moving closer to the fashion douche crew.

"What are you doing? Trying to infect us with your stupid?" She looked pretty high and mighty. I couldn't take the bitch any longer.

"NO YOU FUCKING CUNT, I'M JUST TRYING TO KILL YOU!" Spittle from my mouth flew all over her and she was obviously disgusted, not that I gave a shit. She recoiled in fear and I punched her in the face. Before her shitfaced friends could react, I stood up.

Konata and Hiyori busted the door open behind me and I turned around.

"My gun, _please._" Konata handed me my shotgun, and I turned around with what might have been the most insidious smile yet. Minegishi gasped, her itty-bitty brain finally putting the pieces together.

"No way...you're!" I shot her boyfriend or whoever the fuck it was in the head, sending his bodily fluids splattering all over her, causing her to shriek in disgust.

"You...you...you monster!" Her hair was now multiple shades of red, and she was beginning to look like an animal who was backed against the wall. Which was, of course, exactly where she was. Covered in the blood of her lover boy asshole, her other so-called "friends" huddling in the opposite corner.

"You just realized this? Konata, give this bitch a medal! In the foot!" Konata got the point, and shot her once in the foot, sending her into the fetal position, screaming and clutching her bloody appendage. I withdrew the spray bottle of lemon juice from within my shirt, and stepped on her leg, causing her foot to stick out even as she cried and screamed for mercy, that I was going to pay for this, and some other generic, useless fillers. I swear, this bitch just liked to hear herself talk.

I bent over and sprayed the citrus juices all over her shoe, and after about half a second, her back arched and she let out an absolutely heinous, scratchy scream that made me think that, maybe, just maybe, she was in some form of pain. I made sure, just to be safe.

"Kona-chan~~, I can't hear her! Maybe making an air-hole in her stomach would help? She doesn't need both kidneys, after all!"

Konata dutifully shot her in the stomach after a moment, sending her flopping over and squirming in agony in a steadily growing pool of her own bodily fluids and partially liquidated chunks of gore.

"Hiyori! Kill those other cretins in the corner. They don't even deserve to see the form of hospitality we offer."

There was silence, and no movement. I turned to the younger girl. She was aiming at the girls, but her eyes were glazed over, and her head lofted from side to side slowly.

"Tamura-san!" The brunette jolted, looking around. She saw me, and immediately turned to the girls and opened fire on them.

"S-sorry! I spaced out for a second!" I shook my head as I returned to the prize at hand.

"Whatever, just make sure it doesn't happen again."

Peculiar. Very peculiar. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that the brownie was planning on crossing me. No one cross me. Well, some people do, but they end up dead. You know what I mean? I'm sure you know what I mean.

"Ayano, if you weren't such a _cunt_, maybe I would've let you live. As it stands, I'll have you know that I take pity on you, and will kill you in a more humane way than what I have planned for your friend Misao the fat snobby bitch who thinks she's better than everyone else because she runs track.

Any last words you disgusting whore?"

Surprisingly, the girl managed to look up at me with eyes that belied no ill will. Wait, no, she gave me the finger and spit at me.

"You're the Devil's child, so may you rot in Hell for all eternity for the sins you have wrought against us."

I laughed.

"Bitch, your ignorant religion only further puts you into the wrong!" I got down in front of the mess emerging from the former school idol, and took careful aim with my shotgun. The shot rang true, ending one half of the primary reason for my unending hatred pointing towards the populace of this school.

"Let's go, we have a lot of ground to cover, and a lot of people to kill."

Konata looked at the clock mounted on the wall. "That entire escapade only took about 10 minutes, we can still find some more targets. We can't be personal anymore, I think. We're going to need to be cruel and faceless, in order to rack up the biggest body count."

We moved quickly down the hallway, disregarding the classrooms and heading for the stairs.

"I say we blow the library open and kill the fuckers inside. It's pretty tight in there, and it'll supposedly be packed."

I nodded, sitting on the handrail a minute to rest.

"How many bombs do you think it will take to open one of those doors? They're pretty tough, supposedly."

The blunette gained a mischievous grin. "Whoever said anything about the doors? The walls are bound to be thinner than those blast doors. We'll make our own way in and hold the point. The trapped animals inside will have nowhere to run, and we can pick them off at our leisure with bombs, guns, or maybe go primal and beat someone to death with a crowbar. Hell, I want to find that teacher with the grey cowlick and hold a lighter to his eye. That fucker needs to die...for the greater good of course."

I nodded. What she said made sense, but the portion with the lighter seemed out of place. Was she finally enjoying this, or trying to hard to please me? No, don't tell me, she's in league with Hiyori! They're trying to kill me! Or at least, one of them is...but which one?

Oooooh, I wonder if those rats in the cafeteria are dead yet?

**A/N: And there it is! The slow method, clearing room by room. Next chapter is the fast method, and we pay a visit to our friends in the cafeteria! Tsukasa really needs to calm down, she might do something rash she'll regret later on...**

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review if you want, I'd really appreciate it!**


	6. The Special Olympics Called

The Library

Chapter 6: The Special Olympics Called: They want their sprinter back

**A/N: Hello there! I apologize for the wait. Numerous factors contributed to this, least of which being the new school year.**

I know you're just _**dying **_**to know what happens next. Well, aren't you in for a treat. More terribly morality flaws! I'd also like to thank all of you who have reviewed this story and I appreciate that you take the time to do so.**

Now that that's out of the way, let the good times and the heads roll! 

"Wait, isn't it quicker to go on the other stairwell?" The wolf spoke nervously as we descended from the hallowed ground where I had finished an important piece of my revenge. Oh, how she thought she was clever, acting the part, simultaneously planning my downfall.

I would give the brunette credit. After all, she even financed this operation. But she was never the leader. She was overstepping her boundaries with her pesky actions. Maybe she even fooled herself into thinking she was helping. But I knew what she was really doing.

She was plotting her escape and our demise. I could see it in her eyes, those rare times I caught a glimpse at them. She was always looking at the ground, or around at anything but me. She was afraid. Afraid I'd find out. Oh, how right she was.

But when I did look into those eyes, I found everything I was looking for, and more. I found desperation. I found a caged animal looking for any way out, no matter the cost. She wasn't committed to this. Her words may be strong, but her thoughts and mind had been shattered and broken since before we ever conceptualized our crusade of justice.

Perhaps it wasn't her fault. Perhaps it was part of the very plague that eats away at society. That was what made her weak, unable or unwilling to truly perform the final rite of passage from this world to the next.

I almost pitied her, but to take pity would be to admit that I held compassion any longer. That was a lie. I had torn my humanity from my human body long ago, and in its' stead was an empty shell of cold efficiency and cruelty.

But I had a method that would both punish her, as would be necessary in any case, but also allow her to see the errors of her ways and allow her to redeem herself in death.

She would protest to this, but I knew better than to listen to the pleas of the injured. It would only get me injured, before I could allow such a thing.

"You alright Tsukasa? You haven't said anything in a few minutes. Which way are we going?" I jerked back to reality. Konata was sitting on the bannister of the stairs, looking at me forlornly, and the target of my worries was leaning against the wall, looking at me, rifle hanging against her on its' sling.

I looked around. We were on the stairs that connected the main building to the freshman classrooms. The doors below us were right by the library, which was our next target, and beyond that was the cafeteria. I grinned at the thought of all of those worthless sacks of flesh writhing in agony within, their screams unheard, their dying breaths doomed to be spent in the tortuous shape of pain and suffering.

It brightened my day significantly, in fact. I had also come to a conclusion in how I was going to deal with our unruly member. I was not evil, so I would give her a choice, after I exacted my punishment against her. Sweet, merciful death, or death at the end of a long road of suffering.

"We're going to the library, as planned. Actually Konata, take the bag and start trying to blow open the walls where you think it might be weaker. I need to talk to Hiyori-san for a minute. We'll be right along."

The blunette looked at me questioningly for only a second, before shrugging and taking the bag onto her shoulder and marching down to the stairs and out the doors.

"What do we need to talk about Hiiragi? We're running out of time, the authorities are probably going to start showing up soon..."

She looked for all the part like a worried schoolgirl. Maybe she would fool them. But not me. Not the only one who mattered on the deception end of things.

"No worries Tamura-san, we won't need to worry about them. We have more pressing matters at hand."

Her head perked up, finally looking into my eyes. There it was again, the indecision and the plotting, the conniving inner being of the girl in front of me. She was looking for a way out. The sooner she realized there wasn't one, the better.

"For example, the issue of our own deaths. They will be occuring today, whether it is by our will _or not_. Performing it by our own hands at the time and place of our choosing is the final act of defiance against a world that never wanted us, never needed us, and was only, in its' own twisted view, harmed by our existences. What do you have to say about that?"

Here it was; her last chance at redemption. For her sake, I hope she takes it. She'll die either way, but better to go a martyr for our cause than a traitor to her comrades.

She seemed deep in thought, only to be jolted out by an explosion in the hallway. Konata was doing her job, unlike someone I know.

She looked to the door in alarm, but I snapped my fingers and leveled the shotgun on her.

"Answer the question!" Spittle landed on her face, but she was too scared to care. As she should be.

"I...I...what...what are you doing Hiiragi?" I slapped her in the face, sending her tumbling to the ground. She rolled over, looking up to me as I again aimed the shotgun at her head.

"I am the one asking the _fucking _questions you dirty traitor. Now, would you rather die with us as heroes or sneak away, leave us to die, and live to run another day like the two-faced gangster scum that I know you are!" Another hit in the face, this time a full-fisted blow. Her cheek was bruised heavily, but she didn't cry out in pain. She just stared at me.

The eyes. They changed. They were no longer the watery messes they were only seconds ago. Now they were harder than diamond and darker than the depths of the ocean. They held no mercy, and even unnerved me, when I was in the position of power. I even took a step back out of instinct. I had awoken a part of the brunette that I probably shouldn't have.

Her voice came out low and menacing to match her eyes, her mouth a grim scowl that looked out of place on her face.

"That's what this is about? You think that I'm trying to run away? That I won't take my own life to deny the fat cat society bureaucrats of the satisfaction? I'm going to eat a full magazine of NATO once we're cornered. Let me up and we can get closer to that point, together."

Her last word was accented by another explosion, this one much larger, perhaps multiple pipes going off at the same time. The building shook, some masonry coming look around the doors.

I rolled her words around in my head, before helping her up from the stairs. She started to grab her bag and came up to me, at the top of the stairs, where I was looking out the window, with my chin propped up on my hand, shotgun hanging limp in the other.

"Is your mind clear of whatever doubts you had about me?" She was standing on the top step, her back to the stairway.

I looked over to her, attempting to keep a bored expression on my face. "No, they only confirmed them. Have a nice fall."

In that split second of silence following, I brought the shotgun to bear and shot her in the legs. She was too surprised to even scream. At least, until she hit the stairs.

CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

She came to a sliding stop at the bottom of the stairs, the stairs dotted with blood, her bag thrown free by her literal fall of shame.

The muffled screams and whimpering grew louder as I made my way down the stairs, picking up her bag as I went. Her blood dotted the railing, the stairs, the wall, but not in copious amounts. It would be a long time before she bled out.

I flipped her over with my foot, garnering a loud whimper and a grand view of the crushed and maimed face of Hiyori Tamura. One of her eyes was open, looking up and down at me. It didn't close, and upon closer inspection it appeared that the eyelid had been ripped off on the way down. What a pity; she can't even look away from me.

A few teeth lay on the ground around her, and I watched as she spit one out, hitting me in the face with it.

"Well now, it appears you have a fat lip. Let me _help _you with that." I stomped on her face in time with the word "help", and before any other wordplay or fighting could occur, I collected her rifle and walked to the door, opening it with my free hand. I looked back at the brunette, broken on the ground.

"You had better hope the next time we meet, I've forgotten about your treachery. Farewell Tamura-san."

BOOM!

The wall of the libraryshuddered and the books fell off of the shelves in droves. Those who were closest to the area attempted to move away from the area, but in the vast crowd packed into the room, it was futile at best.

We were lucky, having been on the way to the library when the terrorists had opened fire on students going to lunch. Being some of the first ones in here, we were far away from the doors and the wall that was shaking, in a separate room that was used for meetings.

"My, that doesn't sound good at all. Do you think the authorities will be arriving shortly to contain the situation?" My fellow student council representative Miyuki Takara was always so polite, even when it was woefully out of place. We were talking about a trio of crazed gunmen with guns killing people, and she sounded like she was attending an opera!

I guess it was natural to be worried. I hadn't seen my sister at all in the library, which meant she was still in the school somewhere, entirely at the mercy of people who obviously had no regard for human lives. I was fearing for the worst ,and hoping against hope that she would escape the horrible fate awaiting so many of the students here.

"Hey Hiiragi, you think your schlub of a sister is dead yet?" Misao was leaning back in a chair, entirely at ease with the situation. I rounded on her, having been pacing the room, weaving through the mob of people and teachers in the room.

SLAM!

The punch knocked her out of her seat and onto the floor, hitting several people on the way down. I felt something snap underneath my fist, and her nose was bleeding profusely.

"You take that back Kusakabe! You take that back right now!" I couldn't believe it; she was vulgar at times, and admittingly disliked Tsukasa, but wishing death upon her? That was terrible, I don't care who you are!

She got up, holding her hands above her head in a sign of peace, the blood running freely from her nose onto the floor.

"Alright, I get it, you don't want your friends making fun of the retard of the family, whatever. But if I don't, someone else sure as hell will. A little harassment never hurt no one, right Hiiragi?"

I backed away,fist still clenched, shaking my head. Miyuki placed a hand on my shoulder, and I almost punched her too, but I saw the pink hair and stopped. The emotions and the whole scenario were just too much.

I didn't want the possibility of Tsukasa dying out there while I still had so much to make up to her. I never said this to anyone, but I was a terrible sibling. I always took all of the attention for myself, I always pretended that something good Tsukasa did was my own, things of that nature. She was just as intelligence as I was, sometimes even more so, but I was always manipulating everyone around us to disregard average Tsukasa, stupid Tsukasa, and focus on lovely old me.

She had to have realized it on more than a few occasions, but she was just too nice to call me out on it, and my botched efforts to repair her social life may add to her high opinion of me.

Throughout high school, I wouldn't really talk to her in school that much, and my two best friends both hated her with a passion, entirely through my own machinations and their results.

After no one wanted to talk to Tsukasa, she started hanging out with Izumi Konata, the otaku girl, and that crowd. There was nothing wrong with them, and I even enjoyed light novels from time to time, but social stigmas are a far reaching thing. She became a social outcast, alongside a supposed outcast when it came to mental ability and intelligence. Plodding and curious? Yes. Mentally undeveloped? I highly doubt it. But again, I may have crushed all self-esteem she had for herself long ago.

I noticed all of this consciously only about a week ago, and had been planning on reconciling with her after school, but now there were murderers loose in the school and she was nowhere to be found!

I could feel the tears start to form, and I didn't bother on trying to hold them back. They flowed freely, out onto the ground, and Miyuki, who was still standing there, escalated her touch to a hug, and I leaned into her shoulder and cried until no more tears would come.

After I was done and had partially recomposed myself, I got off of Miyuki, who refused to accept any apology I gave her for my actions, and wandered around the library.

The stillness around the area where something exploded on the other side was palpable; everyone was straining to hear what was happening on the other side without getting too close to it, for fear of what could happen.

The room we were in was slightly elevated, allowing us to see across the mass of people in all directions. Those at the heavy blast doors were tense and alert, possibly listening to footsteps go by. In the middle, people were beginning to get antsy, and someone had gotten a balloon from some unknown source and were batting it around. It was hit closer to us, and I saw it wasn't a balloon.

Ew.

I sat down in a chair that was on the edge of the room, looking out at the half of the school population that was jammed into the library, and thinking about what was really happening.

People were dead, that was for sure. You can't fake explosions, or people coming into the room covered in blood and puking in disgust. Someone claims to have seen a black haired person with an assault rifle. Someone else said there was a serial killer with a shotgun and grenades on the loose inside the school.

The other rumours were more outlandish. A bag full of bombs being thrown all around, the idol Aya Hirano shooting up the school, the whole escapade was an elaborate police exercise.

The truth laid somewhere among all of the lies, but it was impossible to discern one from the other, and it was useless to attempt to sift through it to find out.

I just hoped that wherever she was, Tsukasa was alive and well, and her friends were too. Izumi was a light of hope for her, and I didn't want anything to happen to her either.

I looked up to see the far wall of the library explode in a shower of debris and smoke, the sound wave slamming against us at dizzying speeds.

I fell to the ground, along with everyone else in the area, and felt, rather than saw, the bomb that was thrown into the library. I did, rather unfortunately, see the wave of blood and guts come over the divider of the rooms and land on us, coating our bodies and entering our mouths and noses. The concussive wave from the bomb was not enough to stop the rising sound of screams and gunfire that erupted from the room as a whole and the hole in the room, respectively.

I would've stayed on the ground and hoped I didn't die, until I heard the voice shout into the room, full of malice and hate and so many other things I would've thought incapable of them.

"Eat shit and die you meathead scum! We're gonna eviscerate you, then we're going to rape you, and then we're going to eat you! Karma's a bitch!"

Tsukasa.

Gunfire started, and the screaming resumed a feverish pace, the sounds of bullets hitting everything, living or not, accented by a second gun, presumably carried by another person.

Tsukasa was saying those things.

The doors were locked, the only way out was through a murderer or two.

Why?

It's my fault, isn't it?

**A/N: Oh shit, looks like the gauntlet it being thrown down. I haven't forgotten the poor people inside the cafeteria, but that isn't playing a part until later. Kagami to blame for Feral Tsukasa? Ouch, karma **_**is **_**a bitch. **

**Honestly, who saw Hiyori's..."removal"...coming? I've hinted at it throughout the whole story, and the next piece that I've dropped references to is even better. Her sudden darkness is more of a primal reaction than anything else; "snapping" so to speak, suddenly, due to Tsukasa's impossible expectations.**

**Hope you enjoyed, and don't forget to drop a review! **


	7. Concurrent Events

The Library

Chapter 7: Concurrent Events

**A/N: Hello again! I wasn't planning on writing this until the weekend, but I had a half day today and had nothing planned, so I sat down and wrote this. I hope all of you enjoy this, and it would give me a warm fuzzy feeling if you could leave a review. With that, let's get on with the plot!**

."...and there's your court date. Try not to get caught speeding on your way there, alright Mr. Watanabe?" The elderly man squinted at the traffic officer and had a wry smile on his face.

"Oh don't you worry ma'am, I think I've learned how to avoid all the traffic cameras in the city by now!" She sweatdropped. This guy was a real hoot; he was almost always seen speeding, but never in speed traps, so they never caught him. She had been lucky, however, and had been performing a routine traffic stop and selected his car to be examined. The "57 unconfirmed traffic violations" that came up on her cruiser's computer were surprising, to say the least.

Yui handed the registration information back to the elderly man, whom promptly started his car and sped off into traffic. She sighed, and didn't want to deal with any more paperwork, so she let him go.

Leaning up against her car, she wiped her forehead with a gloved hand. Being a traffic cop was hard work, and it was just 11 in the morning, and she was already starting to feel stressed out. Her little sister was sick today, and was home alone, but she was a big girl now, so she would be able to cope...hopefully.

As she got into her car, she reminisced about little Yutaka. Her little sister was several years younger than her, having been only 6 years old when she had graduated from high school. She was the most innocent little thing she had ever encountered, though, with a heart of pure gold.

Her musings were interrupted by a stream of 4 short squawks on her police radio. She picked it up immediately, getting back to business. That was the signal for issues of the utmost importance.

"Narumi, do you read me?" She pressed and held the button on the side of the radio.

"Narumi here, just finishing up on a routine stop. What was the S4 for?"

"Get your ass back to the station, asap. We got reports of gunfire at a local high-school, and a call we received from a cell-phone indicates a bomb went off in there too." The chief was not a joking man. This was not a joke, not that anyone should joke about something like that in the first place. She was already turning her sirens on and cutting through traffic by the time her superior finished belting out the situation. It was shocking, to say the least. Guns were virtually impossible to obtain in Japan. Virtually was the keyword here, as it was dreadfully apparent that someone had obviously done so.

"Which high school was this, chief? Wouldn't it be better to head directly to the scene?"

"No Officer Narumi, it would not be better to head directly to the scene of the crime! We're unsure of how many there are in on this, but we think they're also the perps behind the collapse of that apartment building in the market district. We found evidence of foul play there, and we're not taking any chances. Every able officer is being called in and is heading to the school in a full suit of combat armor. A SAT is already en route to the school and will enter once the school is secured." Coming ever closer to the station, she realized the chief had avoided her question.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, but you still haven't told me what school it is sir."

The sigh could be heard and she could imagine the bulky man's mustache droop as he frowned.

"Narumi, it's Ryoo High. Your records indicate that you have multiple family members attending that school..."

Her hands gripped the wheel so tightly it squeaked, and she swerved. If she had not been using the emergency sirens to clear out traffic ahead of her, she would have careened into oncoming traffc. As it was, she didn't want to think about the consequences of this.

Yutaka was home sick, but Konata was at school. What if she got hurt? Yui would never be able to forgive herself if she got hurt, or even worse, _died_. She felt tears well up in her eyes, thinking about how Sojiro would feel if he lost his only daughter.

The station was coming up on the right, and abandoning all cautiousness, she sent the police cruiser into a powerslide into the parking lot, sliding sideways and coming to a stop in front of the station.

Jumping out of the car, she ran into the station, looking for the chief. He was easy to spot, standing in the main foyer hollering orders to everyone and everyone. There were more than two dozen people in black bullet-proof armor, carrying full-face helmets that had foldup visors.

The chief spotted her and beckoned her closer. She ran up to him, struggling to maintain her composure, but it was hard.

"Alright Narumi, get the protective gear on and jump in a transport to get over there. More reports from teams on the scene show us that bombs are being used, and lots of them. There's a side hallway visible from the road that is absolutely ripped apart, and covered in blood and guts. The cafeteria and the library have closed their blast-proof doors, which at most would secure approximately 60% of the school's population. The other kids in there are practically helpless. Now get moving!"

As she rushed off to the room containing the protective gear, she was only thinking of a few things. The first being that she hoped to Kami that her cousin was alright. The second being the contemplation of what kind of monsters it would take to knowingly hurt and maim and kill innocent people. They were the ones who deserved to die, not their victims. As a police officer, she knew that many criminals were just people who were mislead, and were actually simply swayed from the path of good and well-doing, but she also knew that the human race occasionally created some prime examples of scum and villainy. And when they joined together, everyone else suffered. This must have been one of those times. After all, who could even think of harming someone as cute and innocent as Yutaka, or as funny and eccentric as Konata? Fucking bastards, that's who.

"Get off of me!"

"There's no room! Tell someone else to move!"

"Hey, can I get some space here?"

The cafeteria was full beyond bursting, but no one was leaving anytime soon. Even over the din of constant shouts and arguments about room, I was sure everyone could hear the gunfire and explosions outside the room and off in the school. Every time it happened a heavy silence seemed to fall over the throng of people, whether they were sitting, standing, on tables, on the kitchen tray, anyone and everyone knew it had spelled death for another person. Well, I say a heavy silence, but I mean heavier than normal. I'm half-deaf, so I lip-read more than I actually listen to what people are saying. I tend to miss out on loud noises sometimes.

I was lucky, as far as space goes. Myself and my friends had always sat at the farthest table from any doors, so we had already been sitting down and eating by the time the explosion had rocked the building and an untold number of students and teachers alike had swarmed into the room, taking up every possible piece of space. The blast doors had started to close before everyone was in, ultimately leading to some people being ousted from the room and forced to find refuge elsewhere.

How do I know that? Well, as soon as the crowd has started to bust into the already room, the tallest of us, 2 meter tall Yumi, had crawled onto the table and while only kneeling, could easily see over the rest of the crowd, giving us a running commentary of what was going on.

The six of us were third years here, and were only a few months away from graduating. Miyu and Hatsune were identical twins, both extremely interested in becoming doctors. Identical down to the last aspect, from the curly brown hair, to the deep chocolate eyes, even he birthmark in the middle of their right hand. Hatsune played the piano while Miyu was a talented singer, making for a very nice stage presence for both of them. I wasn't anything special. I was studying marine biology and hoped to work with endangered animals one day. I didn't have any real talents, unless football trickshots was a talent.

To my left at the table was Kamiya, who was scrolling through pages on his laptop. They appeared to be architectural plans of some sort. He was so focused on his work, we weren't even sure if he had noticed the change in situation. We wouldn't bother him though; ignorance is bliss, as they say. Besides, the last person to disrupt him from studying ended up in a trashcan face first.

Hideki didn't think it was funny, but we were all laughing too hard to care. He was good comedy relief, much to his own chagrin. He always can make us laugh, though he's straining at the moment.

"Alright, how about the one about the girl who is stuck in the park...?" His hands were splayed across the table, his wild hair shielding his eyes from view. As to be expected, he didn't get a reaction from anyone, though Yumi sighed at that moment and shifted in her seat. Hideki sat down in his seat defeated, looking around at us with a sigh.

"This bites. You guys are so down today. We're safe in here! Well, unless Satoshi farts. Then we'll all die of the fumes."

This didn't earn him any points with the twins, and Yumi just shook her head.

"Sappy, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt here, and say that your head hasn't really caught up with what's going on. There are people in the school _gunning down our fellow students_. There's a couple people near the doors that are covered in blood! This is not a fucking joke. Stop trying to make jokes and ignoring what's going on. Your 'happy sunshine' attitude is fine for anywhere but here. So for the love of all that is, get a fucking grip on yourself before I-" She was cut off by a coughing fit, which last almost a full minute and was quite violent. By the time she stopped, she was red in the face and gasping for breath.

"...Fuck, what the hell?" She resumed coughing, and I saw the redness in her face increase, to the point that it looked like blisters. I looked around at the others' looking at her, and noticed something about the room, or rather the noise level.

Several people across the room were now coughing, and a couple of people who had taken off their jackets and shirts were looking like they were sunburnt. It had been very hot in the room with everyone so close together, but radiant heat didn't cause, sunburns, did it?

"AGHHHHH!" A scream from a couple meters away startled me, prompting me to get up and look at its' source.

A first year was leaning against a table, his arms covered in the same peculiar looking burn. It appeared to be leaking pus, and one section was split open entirely, leaking viscous blood onto his open skin. His face looked like a bad case of acne combined with second degree burns. He was coughing heavily while two of his friends propped him up. After only a few seconds, the coughs turned into hacking and spitting, before starting to spew blood from his throat onto the table in front of him.

I stepped on my seat and onto the table, looking around at the cafeteria. It was a similar sight everywhere, the noise now primarily some stage of coughing or retching, some whimpers, some rushed talking, and footsteps.

The area closest to the ventilation vents seemed to be the worst affected. I saw a girl who was laid out on a table, leaking blood all over the table and coughing phlegm and blood out of her mouth and nose.

"There is no escape for us, my friends." I looked down at Kamiya, who was still sitting at the table, on his laptop. His eyes never left the screen.

I looked at the rest of the gang, who looked as scared as I was. What the hell was going on? Why was Kamiya so calm about it? I sat down on the table in front of him and closed his laptop on his hands. The purple-haired nerd looked at me, but his face didn't move a muscle.

"What did you just say? You know something about what's wrong with those people, don't you.?" Everyone else turned to him as well, and he looked at Miyu before sighing. He pulled his hands out of his laptop and set them on top, closing the lid the rest of the way.

"There is some type of biological contaminant in the air. What this means is that we're slowly being poisoned, most likely to put us into a state where we cannot flee once the assailants outside are finished 'playing with their food', so to speak.

I have no doubt that this contaminant is lethal when inhaled for a long duration of time, but is not intended to kill us immediately. The people who are currently experiencing effects to it may have an allergy to a substance in the contaminant. Due to the fact that it appears to be odorless and colorless to some extent, it would most likely be a gas, rather than a solid or liquid, though a liquid contaminant is also possible. As for its' chemical makeup, it could be any number of things.

My most likely guess is some form of modified sulphur-based alkylating agent. A normal solinium atom would need to be in the human body for several hours before it would have the effects being achieved around the room as we speak. That indicates an atom that is stable at a higher temperature, allowing for more rapid dispersion, and perhaps utilizes a different sort of sulphur to accomplish the cell death that most 'poison gas' agents are made to achieve. Furthermore, the constant coughing of phlegm and blood indicates bleeding and blistering of the respiratory system, which while not fatal, is extremely painful.

The real part that makes me wonder about the killers afoot in the school is that their mannerisms lead me to believe that they are students who attend classes here." Everyone gasped at that, except Yumi, who just nodded, trying not to cough. I hadn't thought of it that way, but the egghead was right. It was an inside job, and quite an insidious one, too.

"Their planning seems too meticulous for the average thug or mentally deranged person to make a random target out of the school. They were well equipped, obviously, but they also appeared to have access to alternate forms of weaponry. Explosives were used, and are still being used, and this degrading situation in here is now obviously the work of a carcinogenic agent, most likely a gas containing a sulphuric base.."

He finally looked up, his thick-rimmed glasses framing his deadpan face perfectly.

"All of this means it was an inside job, perpetrated by either staff or students of the school. We can rule out the staff quickly, because any machinations on their part would be recognized quickly. It is most likely that the student or students causing this is or rather, are emotionally scarred as a direct result of their treatments in the school environment."

Hatsune spoke up, surprising us. She was always very quiet, but now she was holding onto Miyu's arm and had a borderline disgusted look on her face, but that may have been from the phlegm Yumi was coating her with whenever she coughed.

"You mean like, they were treated badly?" Kamiya chuckled, but nodded, before coughing into the crook of his elbow. Always so polite, he was.

"Bullied severely would be a more apt term to put it down as."

I took his pause as a chance to focus on the rest of the room. I almost wished I hadn't. It was steadily becoming a state of chaos. More people were beginning to cough, and shouts and cries were echoing around the room, masking themselves as the din heard in a normal lunchroom. The voices themselves almost did not want to be heard, but the physical manifestations of them were in plain sight, more evident proof than anything else in the room, or outside of it.

Some people I knew, I couldn't look at more than once. Their arms and faces were beginning to form burns on them, and shortly thereafter break open in horrible blisters, splitting the protective layer apart and giving the tender inner flesh access to the outside air, which was plainly hurting those it came in contact with. I thought that even I could feel the beginnings of the need to cough up the wretched mess of my innards, but it passed soon enough. I did wretch on the floor, however, when a small girl squeezed through the crowd, lacking a shirt, and completely covered in horrible welts and open gashes in the skin. Her face was just as bad, one eye swollen shut and blood flowing steadily from a popped blister on her forehead. Her lips were ragged and bleeding as well, and she appeared to be attempting to scream, but only a gargling sound emanated from her mouth. Her fingers looked to be one solid mass of discolored flesh, melding together to swell and pop as one congealed mess of corrupted flesh. She disappeared into the crowd before my stomach decided it did not need its' contents, so I was able to direct the mass of bile onto the floor where only seconds before the girl had been.

In the seconds I had been distracted, Kamiya had began to talk again. After wiping myself down with my jacket, I turned back to the table to listen to what he had to say.

"...a terrible thing, but according to Darwin's theory, they are in the right and we are the ones who are deserving of death. They could be seen as having read past the context in the ways of the world, and applied, in thoroughly black and white terms, that they were 'fitter' than the rest of us, and therefore had the inbred right to killing others. In fact, if previous spree killers can be any indication, I expect the perpetrators to commit suicide before they are apprehended by the authorities, in a final act of defiance. To these twisted individuals, being bound by 'lesser beings' so to speak would be the worst punishment, to the point that death is a preferred option."

He turned to me, eyeing my face more closely than he should have. My guess is that I still had some Pocky and rice-cake flavored bile on my face. He didn't seem disgusted by it, and the others were looking around, getting similar reactions to what I myself had mere minutes ago.

"Now Ken, you're wondering why I'm picking this apart so much, and why I'm so calm in the face of what very well could be the death of all of us. There are people dying painfully around us, and I have been fully aware of it the entire time."

He waved his hand around in a wide sweeping motion. Then he proceeded to cough even worse than Yumi did, depositing a bloody hunk of something onto the table, before stopping abruptly and turning back to me, tears in his eyes.

"The simple answer is that, deep down, I'm enjoying this. The system is hopelessly corrupt, and there will be untold amounts of suffering and loss of life before a system that is not will be created. It is going to take individuals like these to jump-start a revolution against the government, or maybe they will only plant the seeds of those who will do the starting. What I'm getting at is that even though all of us in this room are doomed to death, as is any living creature, death is not the end of the cycle. Something will come next, and if we can be recycled, in one form or another, into a life where there is no terrible crimes such as this one right now, than it is worth dying a thousand deaths."

Now he was talking all metaphysical hippie philosophical crap, but I wasn't about to interrupt him. He looked to have been concealing his symptoms, and now coughed openly. I waited patiently for him to finish. When he did, he continued, albeit in a ragged, strained voice.

"I want to say this before we are all delivered to the next process of the manufacture of a perfect world: You all have been the best friends I could have, and I hope we will find each other in the next plane of existence, so as to repeat the fantastic journey we've shared. Thank you, and good-bye."

He coughed once, and seized on something in his throat. In an instant he was turning red; he was choking. I grabbed his throat and started massaging it in an effort to work whatever he was unable to breathe around out of his system, but it felt bony, and would not move at all. He convulsed as I did this, and the others could only watch in horror. Yumi was coughing constantly, but that wasn't the problem right now.

With a final jerking movement, he was still in his chair, his eyes glassing over against the blinking of his laptop...

Wait. His laptop.

I fought back a tear as I grabbed the small computer from the table and set it in front of me. I looked back to the architect who never made it, and started crying silently, as was everyone else.

I opened the machine, but was surprised to see what was open.

Behind the architectural plans, which were of the school itself, there was an audio recorder open, and it was sending everything straight to the police.

I looked around, noting the others' paying their respects to Kamiya. I wanted to do the same, but this was more important.

A space at the bottom of the screen displayed a single line of text, the timestamp 11:45 indicating it had been sent less than a minute ago.

It read:

"RIP Minazaki Kamiya. Help is on its' way."

I typed back in the space provided, weeding out the unnecessary elements to compose a concise, to-the-point message. .

"Thank you so much, but I don't think we are going to make it. A good portion of the room is being affected by whatever it is, and it's killing us. I'm not one of them, but it's only a matter of time. My name is Ken Hikamori, tell my family I love them, and that the yaoi isn't mine."

I chuckled in light of myself. If we didn't make it out of the school alive, which was becoming more likely the case with every passing minute, at least my family would have something humorous to remember me by.

I looked up to the table, realizing why it had been so quiet with a gut-wrenching feeling of dread.

Hideki was staring at his hands as blisters formed on them before our very eyes, before expanding past the limits of the skin and slowly oozing over with pus and blood.

Yumi was face-down on the table, not moving, large tufts of her hair ripped out and in her hands, blood still seeping out from where the roots had been.

**A/N: Well, that was interesting. I don't really like having OC in this story too much, so they are confined and never interact with the other characters, at least not while they're alive. Next chapter we are going to be revisiting the situation over in the Library, as I finally get some awesome "deserving of its' namesake" brutality all up in this shit.**

**The next chapter may be almost a week away, due to my hectic schedule and my promise to myself that I will finish writing and publish Chapter 13 of Vapor before I do anything else.**

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time, Deustch Bath Tubs! 


	8. Anyone up for Jenga?

The Library

Chapter 8: Anyone up for Jenga?

**A/N: Glad to see you again! This week was crazy, but as I promised, I've been hacking away at this (that's not actually a pun concerning something later in the chapter), and am quite pleased with the result.**

**As always, a review would be awesome, and those who already do review are awesome, but either way, thanks for taking the time to read this far! It means alot to me!**

"Where's Hiyori?" The blunette looked back at me as she set another pipe on a wall that was already blackened and buckled, and dotted with more pipes. I had Hiyori's rifle hanging from my shoulder.

"She's completing her own objective, but hers' relies on speed.. She's off now, but we have our own job to finish. Will this do the trick?" The girl nodded, tying all the fuses together and lighting the end as we retreated down to the opposite end of the hall, away from the doors that the traitor laid just inside of.

While the fuse went down, I reloaded my shotgun fully and slotted a new magazine into the rifle. The last few seconds of watching the fuse burn down seemed to take an eternity. I had already determined what I was going to say, and how. I took out the grenade from under my uniform and held it at arm's length.

The wall shattered, breaking into thousands of miniscule pieces of varying sizes, sent everywhere in the wave of concussive force. I pulled the pin on the grenade and whipped it as hard as I could into the massive crowd, relishing in the sheer horror and pain it wrought in just a fraction of a second.

I gathered myself up and jumped into the hole, the rubble forming a pile I crawled on top of. I held my guns out and started unloading into the convulsing crowd, delighting in the musky aroma of sweat, blood, death, pain, tears, and whatever else the smell that hung thick over the area.

"Eat shit and die you meathead scum! We're gonna eviscerate you, then we're going to rape you, and then we're going to eat you! Karma's a bitch!"

Ohhhh, that felt so good to say. There was only person I was planning on raping, though. She was a special case. Beside me, Konata had also gotten her gun into the hole and was pouring bullets into the cesspool of deprecating flesh.

At the end of her clip, Konata lit more bombs and threw them in while I reloaded my guns. We started pushing forward into the space that previously held living, breathing, beings, but now only held gore and corpses. We didn't advance more than 10 meters away from the hole we made; no one was going to escape with their lives, unless we said so.

A separated room in the library was full of student council members, and I was about to lob a bomb through the window, when a flash of pink caught my eye.

Miyuki was in there.

I almost threw it anyways, but instead waved at Konata to stay where she was, and walked through the wasteland in the middle of the decimated library, stepping through blood and entrails that were soaking the carpet red with the essence of it's own students.

I walked up to the window, smashing it with the butt of the rifle that hung at my waist. Everyone inside shriveled up in fear, and I almost let them off, when I saw her.

"Kagami."

The words slipped out of my mouth quietly, dripping with enough venom to burn a hole in the floor. She looked up from her position on the floor, her hair just as red as mine from the waves of fluids that had splashed around after the grenade went off.

"Tsukasa..." I leveled my rifle on her, only to see the last element of all of my revenge fantasies ever, laying on the floor with a bloody streak running down her face, staring blankly at the wall.

It was almost silent now. Everyone was waiting for our next move, and no one wanted to try to come after us.

"Kusakabe. Get up, or I'll kill you where you lay." The fanged idiot rolled over, took one look at me, and scrambled to her feet, trying to hide behind Kagami.

"There's all some misunderstandings here Hiiragi! Right, Hiiragi?" She held Kagami like a security blanket. What a pity.

"While it is _oh-so-tempting _to just slay you both where you stand and revel in the achievement, I believe my associate wants to play with her food, as I do mine...So get up, we're leaving. One false move and a nice smattering of buckshot replaces your brain, or what little you mave have of one. One word to me and you'll get a bullet in the mouth."

I turned to the rest of the Student Council, which were trying to make themselves look as small as possible underneath the chairs in the room. Unlike the majority of the idiots around here, they were genuinely intelligent. Sure, they may not be useful in their own right, but they were decent enough people to attain their ranks in the first place. That counts for something; even I can't say that it doesn't.

"Oh, you don't need to worry! I just wanted these two! You can leave now, if you want."

A few of them took their "opportunity", but I hadn't said anything to Konata about them, so she gunned them down as they approached her. The rest of them cringed even further, a few began to cry, and oddly enough, Miyuki simply sat impassive.

I realized my mistake and called out to Konata, waving my hand and pointing to the remaining members, including Miyuki-chan.

"Oops Konata! They were supposed to be let go! Don't shoot these other ones or Miyuki! After they're out of here, go back to work!"

The Student Council, or what was left of it, including Miyuki, minus my sister and her idiot, walked out of the impromptu meeting room and were allowed to pass by Konata and out of the whole. Their footsteps turned into the clatter of sprinting in school shoes, but it did not matter.

Exiting the small closed-off section with our prizes, I walked back over to Konata, who had developed quite a maniacal grin.

There were only about 30 people still breathing in the room, and most of them were underneath desks and whatnot.

"Hang on Konata, before we really take this to the true extent, let's make sure every motherfucker in the room is dead."

Konata leveled her gun on our guests of honor, to my delight. She looked at me.

"Go on, get rid of them. I don't want to wait for this." I couldn't tell if the smile she flashed me was lewd in nature or not, but mine might have been.

"So are you going to kill us?" Misao sounded so much more respectful when she had a gun leveled on her. Funny how that works.

"Probably. What else would we do, dress you up and host fancy tea-parties with you? We've killed enough people today, a couple more wouldn't matter."

Kagami finally spoke up. Actually, I've never really talked to her before. I'm not even really sure why Tsukasa wants to do such unspeakable things to her, but it has to be bad for hatred to run that deep.

"Enough people? What amount is enough that a couple of people dead is an insignificant value!?" Her voice was shrill, but also hushed. Her note quieted down right after a shotgun blast resonated from the other side of the room, along with the squish of flesh being made into quite the unique flesh/bullet fillet. Another person dead.

"We're in the hundred to three hundred range for this room alone, and add to that the cafeteria, and you're looking at a minimum of 700 people. 1200 students attended this school today, and 600 tomorrow would be a miracle."

The lilac haired girl regarded me with the most disgusted face I've ever seen.

"Sev...seven _hundred?_...That's not even...why would you even...how..."

"Revenge, Hiiragi." My face hardened as I said this, and she looked up, taken aback, perhaps by how calmly I said it, or how dead it sounded to anyone, regardless the situation.

The purple haired girl still remained incredulous.

"No, I mean _how_. Even with bombs and guns, there's no way you killed more than a hundred people, let alone several hundred. It feels weird to be penning a number on life, but it's not that high. You're bluffing."

The look in her eye was almost pleading, begging for it to be false, for this to be some misunderstanding. Then it occurred to me; it really is a societal problem. Notice that she's actually talking to me? I'm responsible for more dead people in the past hour than there are bones in my body. She's seen me kill a few dozen personally. Yet she's still having a conversation with her _while I'm holding her at gunpoint_. We're all dead to life, essentially...I wonder what will happen if I alert her to this...this'll be interesting.

Bang.

Bang.

Another two people dead.

"It's simple. Hiiragi. We've been on the ass end of society, and we're sick of it. So we upended society, established ourselves as the leaders of our own, and by the end of today, we'll all be dead, so none of it will really matter. But if you want to look at it in a way that will make you question yourself, how are you even talking to me right now? I'm holding the both of you at gunpoint with a fully functioning assault rifle, and you're still talking to me no different than if it was a normal conversation. Do you want to explain to me why?"

The lilac-headed girl's eyes got wide, and she sputtered in protest.

"Wha-wha-what do you mean? That's just because...because...because..." She couldn't come up with a reason. I waited for a few more seconds, listening to the shotgun in the background; I couldn't actually see Tsukasa right now, but that was all the proof I needed of her work.

"It's because...I...know you...?" She offered the statement more for her than me. She looked confused, and Misao was blinking stupidly and working her jaw around. I wouldn't expect anything more from that bitch, but the sane Hiiragi didn't seem to be reacting to this very nicely.

The desks on the opposite end of the library were sturdy in construction, and large enough to conceal a person beneath them. I walked quietly, making nary a sound, stopping next to the first desk.

Holding my breath, I could hear shallow breathing inside it. Weighing my options, I decided to scare the shit out of the person before I ended their petty life.

Going to the front of the desk, I stood beside it. In one movement I pulled out the chair and kicked it to the side, revealing a girl with a pudgy face and glasses.

"Ye guilty." The girl spoke in a monotone, her eyes heavily lidded, as though she had resigned herself to her fate long ago.

"Indeed I am." I shot her in the chest, creating quite a mess in the confines of the desk. I did not envy the cleanup crews, not a single bit. I'll be dead by then, so why should I care?

The next desk was shaking in place. How pitiful. I gave this one the benefit of the doubt, and just shot it through the side. It went still, and no blood went everywhere, which is a bit disappointing. I guess you can't have your cake and make bananas with it too.

I decided to play with this one a bit more.

"If you come out from under there right now, I'll let you walk free." Slowly, ever so slowly, the chair came forward, displaying an underclassman that had quite literally soiled his pants from the whole debacle.

He looked up to me, where I stood most imposingly.

"Do you mean it?" I brought my gun up.

"No." His eyes widened in fear for a split second, before becoming the glazed slackness that befits one who has recently gained a skull tunnel. The corpse slumped to the side against the desk, its' brain matter dripping down the wall.

The next desk was slightly different. Instead of cowering behind cover, this girl was sitting in plain sight, cross-legged and looking ahead. This one nodded to me when I knelt down to take aim.

"Hello sempai, you may not want to kill me though. If you do, then your death will not be any sort of peaceful. I can promise you that."

Her eyes were deader than many of the corpses lying around the room, and her hair was matted with blood and phlegm. I faltered for just a second.

"If I let you live, then what difference would it make? You're just like the rest; ignorant and aimless. But my aim is true."

The girl laughed, a sharp, biting, caustic, cruel sound that surprised even me, sounding for all like something that should not exist.

"You really think that's true? You're foolish. Leave me and I will not cause your death to be repeated until the sun itself is extinguished, upon which time I shall drag us both into an unending void of despair and pain. Once that void has been filled with your screams and throes of woes, I will take you into the miasma of the universe, and lock you there until time stretches into a string so long that millennia became unrecognizable from one to the next.

You will be stuck in that primordial clutter until the very idea of time starts to wither against the turmoil of its' own existence. Nothing may be forever, but mark my words, I will do anything within my power to ensure you suffer for the longest period possible, and suffer the worst treatment possible during your living death after death."

I started to feel queasy, and my head began to pound. The voice, and the girl, began to wave. I blinked a few times, and both the girl and her insidious voice were gone. I looked down the row of desks; there was more work to be done, more meat sacks to puncture. A busy day for a busy person!

The girl must have been a figment of my imagination. Hopefully.

…..

What...

…..

Oh shit, the ground is making more waves than that blue...water thing…..the ocean?

Yeah….that.

I'm just going to lie down for a…..wait! The ground is coming towards my head!

Ow, now everything is like…..sideways and shit.

Curses! Now even the world itself is turning on me! Hehe. Turning. Everything is turning while I'm like….turning on society. Or something. Is that right?

Everything is turning….black….or is that purple? You know what else is purple? My sister's face after I choke her half to death. Now there's a happy thought.

**A/N: Tsukasa faints at exactly the wrong time? Konata may have just broke Kagami? Misao is an idiot? Only one of the previous statements was a question?**

**Next chapter will be along much quicker. Pinkie promise. Okay, maybe more like NATO 7.62mm promise, but you get the point, right? **


	9. The Pseudo-Wicked Rest

The Library

Chapter 9: The Pseudo-Wicked Rest

**A/N: Hello again! I regret not updating sooner, but this was not my top priority recently...and I'm not going to give talk about the story here, like I normally would. You don't need to read it, but it might help you understand Tsukasa's reasoning a bit more. I tend to think "in-character" a bit too much, and the results are interesting, to say the least.**

**I'm going to talk about life. We all know that life isn't forever, and that in the back of our minds, maybe just a little, we all know that no one will remember us after we're all dead. For every 1 billion people, there are maybe 5, 10, 20 people whose names will stick out for future generations for doing something great, but hundreds will be remembered for the terrible things they did. Centuries from now, Archduke Ferdinand will be but a footnote in an ancient book, but Hitler will still be remembered for the Holocaust and the Third Reich. I bet that people will still know what Columbine and Aurora are, 80 years from now. Do you think that your grandfather's book of jokes will be remembered with the same reverence? Of course not. **

**This blurb really didn't have any meaning, just venting the thoughts of killers. They get stuck in my head sometimes, and while I can understand why someone could think that way and why their actions would be spurred in one way or the other, I still don't really agree with any of them. I am not my writing, is what I'm trying to reassure you, and myself, if you look at it from another perspective.**

**On with the murder-rape! Oops, did I say that? I didn't mean that...or did I? Read on and find out!**

"Alright men...and woman, we're going in blind. All attempts to call a line inside the school have failed, and we have heard shots fired from all over the building. We're going to enter through the gymnasium and start sweeping through to the classrooms. The very center rooms, the cafeteria, library, and classrooms in the main building, will be last. Now lets go!"

The assembled police forces were all wearing the same heavy body armor, designed for use by Special Weapons and Tactics squads. It wasn't the norm, but then again, nothing about this situation was.

I adjusted my helmet to fit my head better and adjusted my rifle. I was on point, but only because Chief said that I "have experience with the building." I've been here three times, all of which were to pick up Yutaka when she was sick. How the hell was I supposed to know the building inside and out?

Okay, calm down, it's alright...Konata' in there, somewhere...safe and sound...maybe.

No! That's not how I'm going to think! She's perfectly fine! This may even be a hoax, only one bomb and a few bullets for the real guns!

No, it's not that way, my rational side argued. There wouldn't be constant explosions and gunshots coming out of the windows if this was fake. This is very real, and very dangerous. People are dying, and you're going to put a stop to this.

Without warning, I kicked the double doors to the gym open, checking left and right before signalling the rest of us forward.

The air inside was warm and damp, as though a class had just been held inside, and the sweat of young adults hung in the air, not wanting to leave.

That same rational side said that that smell of their sweat might be the last impression they ever make on the world.

Ooh, that's dark. Stop thinking that way!

We made our ways to the locker rooms. The girls locker room was closer, so I got on one side of it, pressing my ear as close to it as my helmet would allow, listening for any noises inside.

Surprisingly, I heard some. Or at the very least, one. Someone was crying inside, breathing hard and erratically.

I turned to the rest of the insertion team, all 12 of them.

"Someone's in there, and crying, by the sound of it. I'm going to go in alone."

The gung-ho sargent cocked his head to one side.

"And why would you be doing that, Miss?"

I tapped the sign on the door.

"Sorry boys, but it says girls only."

With that, I opened the door and slipped inside, not waiting to hear their reactions.

I hadn't expected it to be pitch-black, but these helmets did have floodlights mounted to them. The crying had stopped, and the silence was eerily heavy.

I called out to the void before I turned the lights on.

"Is anyone there...? This is the police...we're not going to hurt you..." I heard sniffling in the corner, followed by choked-up crying.

"Y...Y...You won't, maybe...But THEY did!" The shout startled me, and I flicked the lights on, seeing something rather pitiful.

In the corner was a girl who at first looked to be lacking any skin, but upon looking for another second, the truth was even worse.

She was covered from head to toe in blood, and in some cases, what looked like blood-soaked brain matter. It was in her hair, on her face, staining her uniform, everything. It looked wet too, like this hadn't happened too long ago, and it was still fresh. Only her eyes belied any different color, which were red from crying, but the iris' was still a chocolate brown color.

She was squinting at me, blinded by the sudden light. I moved among the benches to her side quickly, kneeling down in front of her and holding one of her hands in both of mine.

"Are you hurt? What happened? How did you get here? What's your name? I'm Yui Narumi, but you can just call me Yui."

The girl looked up to me, her eyes still tearing up, but after a few seconds, she took a deep breath and tried to answer in as calm a voice as she could, but ended up failing, and her words started to lose some form, but their meaning still held together.

"My name is Haruka...I was going to lunch after meeting up with some friends, and when we were in the hallway outside the cafeteria...something exploded. I wasn't hit by anything, but my entire back was covered in blood and guts. Then the shooting started. As soon as I heard that, I dropped to the ground, trying to avoid it. I landed face first and ended up rolling around in a...pool...of guts, but, but, but...I saw a girl shoot my best friend in the face! It was horrible! She stepped on her face and broke her nose and did all kinds of terrible things! Then...she killed her! She shot her right in the head with a shotgun! It was terrible, but right after that happened, something got in my eyes, so I couldn't see the people standing behind the first girl...but they both had guns too. They went down the hallway shooting people and blowing up things, I could hear that much. As soon as the hallway was quiet, I got up and ran as fast as I could for the gym. I washed my eyes out in the sinks and have been here ever since...my friends are dead! Why? Why? Why? "

At this point the girl continued repeating why and shaking her hands and crying, at which point I called the team in, who found the lights and turned them on.

The floor had bloody footprints all over it, no doubt from this one girl, who was going to be scarred for life after seeing what she did today.

The others had checked the boy's locker room in the meantime, where nothing had been found, so we called in another team to maintain a presence in the gym.

The gym opened into a hallway that had seen better days. The floor had several portions that had large holes in them, and the ceiling looked like it had been shredded by shrapnel. A body laid face-down near the end, a large pool of crimson leaking out from it. A door stood open by the body, and the silence made the whole scene that much more surreal.

The silence was broken only by our footsteps down the hall, checking inside each room we passed, finding wrecked classrooms and broken glass everywhere. I made it to the body without realizing it, only noticing by my footsteps, the sound changing into a swishing sound. The blood was almost an inch deep, thick and congealed.

I stepped over it, trying not to vomit. The girl looked like she hadn't been any older than Yutaka, a bullet hole clean through the heart.

I heard a cry of pain from somewhere close-by, and I stopped. The rest of the insertion crew must have heard it as well, as they stopped at the same instant I did. I looked back. Someone from further back shrugged, and I shook my head.

But then I heard it again. I froze.

Then I heard an explosion, and not any normal explosion. The swift clang followed by a loud BOOM. A fragmentation grenade, and close-by, too. I was near the end of the hallway, and through it was a stairwell.

I listened for another minute, stock-still, and heard nothing, not even the breathing of those behind me. They were that good. I stared at the doors, which seemed pretty roughed up, even seemingly buckled slightly in a few places...definitely out of place with the rest of the hallway...

We were supposed to do that section last, but it couldn't hurt to check... I halted the team with one hand up, ignored Sargent Asshole's dramatic sigh, and proceeded to the door. Looking through the small window at head height didn't show anything wrong, though that was little more than a first glance.

I eased the door open with the barrel of my MP5, looking through the crack at the stairwell. A large hole was in the floor, allowing me to gaze down to the bottom of the stairwell. But it was also possible to step around the hole and see the middle landing and everything on it.

Including the girl on her back who was still conscious, with blood all over her legs and the floor below her...and the stairs...and the wall. Oh god, what the hell is going on here?

I made my way down the stairs, holding onto the railing with one hand. The blood was making the stairs slippery, and I almost fell a few times regardless. The girl looked strangely familiar, and while one eye was moving constantly, the other one was locked on me.

I wonder how long it's been? It's so painful. I wonder why I haven't passed out yet. Maybe that bump to the head gave me brain-damage, and I can't pass out now? Oh, wouldn't that be wonderful.

Holy shit, my eye hurts. Without that part of the eyelid, I'm moving it around constantly to get the portion that's still there to lubricate my eye.

My legs hurt too, but I can only kind of feel them. I still can't believe she shot me in the legs.

I bet Patty would never love a girl with no legs...

Oh no. What have I done? I would facepalm right about now, but my arm hurts too much to move.

Wait.

Do I have my gun? No, Tsukasa took it. Do I have any ammo? No, she took that too...I look like a victim right about now. Well that's good, but I might be forgetting...

The grenade.

I tried to move my fingers of my right hand. I could see them, and for 1cm of travel, it hurt so badly I cried out in pain, though my voice sounded weak and worn-out from fatigue. But, fighting against the feeling of nerve endings ripping themselves apart, I managed to maneuver my hand and lower arm to land on my chest.

It took about 10 seconds of weak finger flapping to find the metal ball under the material of the kerchief. It felt ice-cold in the bloody warm fingers...too bad that's frighteningly accurate in this case. I held it up as best as I could, about to throw it, before I remembered the pin.

I had to pull it first. But how? My other hand is basically paralyzed, courtesy of buckshot. She was a good shot, that Hiiragi. Can you tell I'm being sarcastic? What a neurotic bitch...

My mouth still works, doesn't it?

I stopped putting any effort in holding the arm up, and it dropped back towards me. The grenade-holding hand was right in front of my face. I lifted my head the millimeters I needed to off of the floor, and my skull felt like it was about to split into a million shards, each one being ground into a dust for a voodoo doctor to make potions with.

I put it down, but for the sake of survival, and maybe even living another day, I did it again, but this time grabbed the small metal ring in my teeth. My head fell and with it came the ring.

I got as much strength as I could into my hands, which wasn't much, and I chucked it upwards, watching it make it just barely over the stairwell and probably land on the other side.

I saw the explosion; it sent a hole through the floor, causing a section of the ceiling of the stairwell to collapse and hit the floor with a muffled thump.

There.

Now I'm the victim.

I might have passed out for a few minutes, because I came to in even more pain than I was before, which is saying a lot. My eye was not terribly dry, and it stung to rotate it around under the remains of the eyelid. My eyes must be playing tricks on me; I could have sworn the portion of the door I could see through the hole in the floor had just shifted, if only by a few centimeters.

I tried to cry out for help, but again, nothing more than a weak gurgle, nothing more than a whisper in volume. To my amazement, the door _did _move, more this time, and something thin poked out beyond the edge of it.

I gave another pained shout, but I just couldn't make anything louder than a strangled moan.

The object moved out, followed by a black figure. The "object" was a submachine gun, an H&K MP5...why does that make me happy?

Of course! That's the gun commonly in use by police forces worldwide! Holy shit, I might make it out of this yet...or bleed out before hand. Don't think about that, don't think about that, don't think about that...too late.

The figure's feet sidestepped the hole and vanished from sight, and the helmeted head belied no emotions as it looked around the room. It walked to the top of the stairs and looked down at me, then the stairs, then the wall, then back at me.

It started to make its' way slowly down the stairs, shifting the small gun to one hand and using a black gloved hand to hold onto the handrail. I noticed it pointed the weapon at the wall, away from me. A small gesture, to be sure. I'm taking in all the details to block out the pain...it seems to be working for the most part.

They stumbled a few times on the stairs...why? Maybe because my blood wanted out of my body so badly that it covers the stairs? Yeah, maybe that's it. That's some bloody humour...ouch, I tried to laugh from that, and my diaphragm feels as though it has a few holes in it.

...I'm not usually funny...how bad is the wounds?

All these random questions and answers made their way in and out of my damaged head as the figure made its' way closer to me. They kneeled down in front of me and brought their head in.

I saw the face behind the semi-reflective visor. A green haired woman who was biting her lip and looked angry, though I could tell why. We looked at each other, and I moved my hand up off of my chest, but other than that, it hurt too much to move.

The woman in uniform started talking, but it seemed it was to someone else.

"We're going to need some medical units down in the stairwell connecting the gym corridor and the media corridor. There's a girl here who's pretty badly injured, but she's conscious and moved around a little bit.

No, there's multiple hits to the legs, looks like a shotgun or something. By the looks of the scene, she was shot and fell down the stairs, I think. No, no one else around. My team is waiting in the gym corridor, they'll be coming with me into the other corridors. No one is to be sent into the main building. It's just off through the pool of blood on the floor, and is to be cordoned off. No, don't ask why, just do it."

The woman tapped her helmet once, before speaking to me in a slow, calming tone.

"Can you hear me? Can you talk?...My name is Officer Yui. What happened here?"

I knew I couldn't speak, so I lifted a finger and pointed at the stares, and managed to make a low whooshing sound with my mouth. My open eye lingered on the stairs, but soon was moving again.

I nearly passed out from the effort, but oh well. Wait, why is the room getting really dark?

**A/N: Well, I'm kind of disappointed. I wanted to make the police getting into the school and looking around, and Hiyori's bit separate chapters, but I don't want to drag this out too much. We've got only a couple of chapters left! 6 at the absolute most, but probably closer to 3-4. Hope you enjoyed the chapter; as always, a review would be awesome!**

**Until next time, do math and walk the dinosaur!**


	10. She'd Write a Manga About It

The Library

Chapter 10: She'd Write a Manga About It

**A/N: I hinted at it last chapter, and this is that chapter. The kicker? I've never actually even attempted to write anything of this sort...well, the sexysexy-time part of it, anyways. Though honestly, after you read this, I wouldn't consider it to be that either...*hem***

**Well, no sense stretching this out any longer, go read what sick, twisted thoughts poured out onto the document! **

I came to, seeing the hallway retreating into the distance, and feeling a hand gripping onto my collar. My body felt bruised, like I had been beaten, but if I was, I hadn't been present. What the hell happened? My mind is giving me images and sounds, but I hope they were part of a bad dream.

The images are of Tsukasa slaughtering everyone in the library, and the sounds are of her friend Konata telling me it was my fault she did it. After that, there was a sharp pain to the back of my head, and now I'm here. Was that all a bad dream?

I tried looking around, and discovered it was very much reality, no matter how terrible it may be.

My sister was dragging me with one hand, a nasty-looking shotgun in the other. It was being aimed right at my head. Her eyes were also on me. I flinched back the best I could from the look of absolute hatred she pounded into my eyes.

I felt guilt wash over me. It kind of...no, it _was _my fault that she was like this. My selfish ways while we were children sent her on a path that ended in catastrophe. That means that I'm really the one to blame for all of this.

That made me feel even worse, but I wasn't about to attempt to shirk the blame. If the fact that we're being dragged down the hallways by our necks is any indication, I think I'm about to be killed by Tsukasa.

I'm torn; I know why she would want to do this, but my sentimental side says that our bond as twins will prevent that from happening. I know that's not true; whatever special bond we had was shredded into innumerable pieces when I ruined any feeling of self-worth that she had.

"In here Konata...shut the door and wake that thing up." We were dragged into an empty classroom and my head suddenly impacted with the floor; Tsukasa had let go without warning.

My head throbbed but I didn't have the motivation to sit up and cry out in pain. I sat up slowly until I saw Konata kick Misao in the face, hard.

"Hey what the hell are you doing?" Konata looked at me and spit on my face, causing me to flinch.

"Waking the bitch up; there's not much time to violate your virginity and your mind." I slid into a corner instinctively, wincing at the bruises on my hands and legs.

The blue haired girl advanced on me, but I was jerked to my feet by Tsukasa, who slapped me in the face and put one hand around my neck.

Her voice sounded so happy; too bad it wasn't that way for me.

"Clothes. Take them all off. Now." Her gun was on me, and it was getting hard to breathe, so I took a ragged, unsteady breath, and reached up to untie my handkerchief. She loosened her grip on my neck, allowing me to breathe a little bit more, and I pulled the handkerchief completely off and dropped it on the floor.

"Faster, Kagami, my finger is getting itchy." Tsukasa shook the shotgun being aimed at me, which did help to put things in perspective. I was stripping naked for my twin, who was holding me at gunpoint in a classroom while her friend watched.

I pulled my shirt over my head, feeling the cold air on my stomach, wincing as I watched my sister's eyes be drawn to the pale pink bra. I pretended not to notice, but it was blatantly obvious, what with her face only a meter from mine.

"Well?" Damn, she meant everything. She's just trying to humiliate me, I know it. It's working, too; I can feel my face heating up as I unhooked the clasp behind me, letting it fall as well. The cold nit at my small nipples, making them hard before my eyes.

"My, my, you're quite naughty, sis. Now take everything else off before I plaster that pretty little figure all over the wall." Her smile was not her own, hungry, demanding sustenance. Capable of murder, even.

I took off the skirt, mindful of their gazes. The blunette sat on a desk and just watched, Misao's unconscious form all but forgotten.

I was shivering by this point, but tried to hide it. That was a sign of weakness, and something I couldn't afford.

Ew, Konata just licked her lips while staring at my panties. I think I might be in for some trouble. Please be humiliation and nothing more, oh please, don't be rape, don't be rape...Though, it would be worse if it were a bunch of guys...no, don't rationalize it! Rape is rape, but then again, they could kill me at any point...no, rape really is the lesser of the two evils here. Well, this sucks.

With a sense of finality, I dropped my underwear, and let out a whimper as the cold air rushed into the last refuge my body had.

Here I was, naked as the day I was born, a gun in my face and two sets of eyes scanning my figured. I resisted the temptation to cover myself, instead putting my hands at my sides and standing up straight.

"Alright sis, now be nice and sit on the floor with your back against the wall, next to the door." She gestured with the hand that was not on a trigger, to a specific spot. I nodded rapidly, my hair swishing in my face. I walked over to the indicated spot, feeling the air around me touch every point on my body, and the cold surface of the tiled floor pushing on my feet.

As I turned back to face the two as I sat down, that feeling of foreboding in my stomach grew. Konata was dragging Misao out of the way, and the two had switched weapons; Konata was holding the shotgun, while Tsukasa had the short black rifle in one hand.

With the was I was sitting, she might be able to see...there. I changed how I was sitting, gently placing my butt on the cold floor, my knees bent in front of me, upon which I rested my chin on, looking at my captors.

They were now conversing in low tones across the room, their guns leveled on me. U guess that's what 'under the gun' means...oh shit, I'm probably about to die, and here I am cracking jokes. I think that says something about me...or something. Did I mention that I think I kind of deserve whatever happens next? Because I truly do; I'm most of the reason why she's like this in the first place, and it really hurts to admit that, even in the recesses of my own head.

Well, they're turning back to me with some seriously evil looks. I'm starting to shake, and it's not from the cold, either.

"You ever schlick it, Hiiragi?" The blunette asked as she stepped in between my legs, grabbing my wrist, surprising me.

"Y...Yeah, sometimes..." I looked past her figure in embarrassment. Behind her, Tsukasa had her back to us, the rifle leaning against her shoulder, pointing down. She stood up, revealing an object affixed to the end of the barrel; a short nub, maybe 5cm in length. She turned around, and it was clear that the magazine had been removed, which was odd, and not in the good way, either.

"So naughty, sis. I need to punish you." Well world, it's been nice. Tell Jigsaw I said hi, would ya?

`````LINE BREAK`````

I saw her eyes go to my gun, and she went limps. Oops. Bitch thinks she's dead. Not yet sis, not yet.

After a few seconds, she opened her eyes, still here, still being held by Konata. She was visibly distressed.

"Just get on with it and kill me; I know you probably want to, if you've come this far." How perceptive, but I think living a long, painful life is better for revenge than a short, quick death. So we're just going to make her life a living hell...standing will be a chore, that's for sure.

"Open her up Konata, it's getting antsy." I waved the gun a bit, as sis seemed to finally catch on to what was about to happen.

"What?! No, that's sick!" She tried to throw Konata off of her, but the shorter girl hit her in the face with the butt of the shotgun, knocking her down and stunning her, allowing Konata to get behind sis and pull her legs apart and keep them there, despite her struggles.

I got on my knees in front of her, smiling ever more as she fought a losing battle with the small blunette.

"Well sis, look on the bright side; at least you won't die a virgin!" With that I leaned forward and slid two fingers into her, gauging her reaction. She was trying very hard not to cry out, biting her lip till it bled. I inserted another finger and began to make small movements in her. I enjoyed how wet it was, be she certainly wasn't. A shame, really.

I rapidly withdrew my fingers and when sis sighed in relief, put them in her open mouth. She instinctively swallowed, taking her juices with her. Her eyes belied surprise, but that wasn't enough.

"Here comes the airplane! Ala hu Akbar!" Without warning, I grabbed the rifle and shoved it deep into her snatch, feeling as it stopped for a split second, before plunging even deeper as her hymen was shredded by the thick rifle barrel. I had mounted a duck-bill suppressor to it while Konata was restraining her; it was for maximum...obtrusiveness, in sis.

Her scream was one of the most blood-curdling things I had ever heard, and blood leaked out all over the barrel and onto the floor. Sis was also digging her nails into her palms until they were bleeding too. It was almost like it hurt. But that's silly!

Her whole body had completely tensed up and her face was on par with that screamer painting that Spanish artist dude did. Picasso, I think?

Uh oh, her blood is getting all over my hand; that's how much was gushing out. She was still screaming too; I'm actually kind of impressed she's held the same note for so long.

After almost a full minute, give or take, she managed to stop screaming and open her eyes, tears flowing freely.

"Y...you're..._evil._" Her breath came in short, agonized bursts, her attempt at not moving, perhaps. Well, we can't have that!

"No, sis, that's the wrong word for it...I think that you'd say that I'm..._twisted._" as I said it, I wrenched the rifle sideways, feeling the sharp tip rip through the inner walls, bringing forth a fresh flow of blood. the floor around us was covered in a pool of it by this point.

Her screams of agony were music to my ears; watching her thrash around against Konata was exhilarating, too. Konata was cringing for some reason; maybe she just doesn't have the same finesse in order to enjoy this. No matter, this is purely for my enjoyment.

I waited for sis to stop screaming before I pulled the barrel out, pleased to see a bloody strip of flesh wrapped around the duck-bill. Sis sank to the floor, having been held up by the intrusion. Her legs were spread at 45 degree angles, and her knees were in the air.

I had one more idea for my darling Kagami; something to remember me by, as if this weren't enough already.

I stood up, leaving the rifle by my side. Her head followed me, heavy lidded eyes attempting to block out the no-doubt gargantuan amounts of pain in her core. She's already broken, surely; now I just need to shatter her irreparably. This should be fun.

I lifted my blood-soaked foot and placed it on her knee. I leaned in, looking her in the eyes. She drew back in fear, as she should. Konata still had a grip on her arms, so to draw back, she was putting me out of her field of vision.

I stood up, lifting my foot as high as I could, and with as much force as I could manage, stomped on her knee. The snap was loud and cringe-worthy; I felt the joint crack and break as I drove my foot down into the floor.

Her reaction, however, left much to be desired, however. Sis let out a choked gurgling, spat some blood onto her chest, and coughed a lot. Oh dear, she must be in shock from the pain. How unfortunate.

With her femur jutting from her shattered joint, I repeated the action to her other leg, but she didn't utter a peep. I think I may have really broken her. No use playing with a broken toy, I guess.

I looked at Konata, pointing outside the classroom, into the hallway.

"Drag my sister out there, but make sure to prop her up on simply won't do to have her drown in her own fluids, be it blood, vomit, or otherwise." She got up and worked out the kinks in her legs, before opening the door and dragging the now unmoving form of Kagami out the door. Her leg almost caught on the door, but it was limp, so it went past and vanished out of sight. The trail of blood on the floor made me smile, which is good. Now for the other one.

Turning to Misao, I was mildly surprised to see the dumb cunt sitting in the fetal position, her eyes on me.

"...you going to kill me Hiiragi?" Oh, she is just _quaking _in fear...I think I might be merciful. Or not.

Konata walked back in, stopping next to me. She spoke in a stony tone, no doubt looking at the brunette bigot as she did so.

"She's out like a light, but her arms are interlocked in the railing. What are we doing to _her._" I shrugged, unsure of how to execute my plan.

"Truthfully, I wanted to cut her feet off and leave her, but now I'm feeling more like shooting her in the stomach a few times and slicing her cheeks open. You?" Her eyes lit up at the second one, so I moved to my bag to insert a partially used magazine into the bloodied rifle.

"How...how can you discuss my life like that!" She was on her feet now, hands up due to the shotgun in her face. Oddly, she wasn't flinching away from the weapon. It was Konata who answered her, however.

"Because you're an insignificant cunt, that's why. If I were in charge, you'd be dead right now, so count your fucking blessings."

I stepped over to the brunette as I pulled the charging handle on the small rifle. There's a method to my mercy, you know, but I will be long dead before these plans come to fruition.

"Well, Kagami was just so much fun, and I'm seeing now that slow and painful is _much _better than just killing someone, so I'll be civil. Here's the deal. You go out into the hallway and rip out Kagami's jugular with your teeth, and we'll let you walk, scot-free." Her look of disgust and horror quickly dismissed that idea.

"Alright, I get it, you're playing the hero. You have two options, and both of them involve you getting shot. However, after the deed is done, we'll leave and attempt to harm you no more.

First option: you open your mouth as wide as possible, and I shoot you in the cheek, missing your jaw bones, but shredding the muscle in your cheeks. That is very survivable, but also excruciating painful.

Second option: I shoot you in the stomach three times and in each foot twice." you could see the small cogs in her itty-bitty brain slowly grinding against the weight of the problem. Konata looked at me with a look that said 'there's no way you just did that', but in a good way.

After about 30 seconds, the verdict was out. She looked at me, her fang biting her lip.

"You drive a hard bargain Hiiragi. First option, because I'll still be able to run track with a hole in my face..."

"Two holes." I corrected her gleefully.

"...Yeah...well, let's get this over with, I guess. You'll leave me alone after this?" Her eyes were dead to the world. I couldn't lie to those eyes.

"Yeah, we'll be going downstairs to the main building...We killed Ayano, you know." She looked away, a single tear in her eye.

"I figured as much." She opened her mouth and pointed at it. smart girl; no pain, no gain. I also don't think that the second option I gave her was actually survivable, either. Good thing there was a SAW marathon on last week!

I walked beside her and lifted the barrel to press against the cheek of her. To add to the odd civility of all of it, I leaned in and whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." With that, I pulled the trigger and she dropped to the floor, screaming and crying and holding her mangled mouth.

"come on Konata, we're going to go see the gas victims. A last rite, I guess." She nodded, grabbing her bag and stepping out of the room, leaving bloody footprints behind.

I closed the door behind me, which did little to muffle the sounds of Misao's torment. This time, my smile didn't reach so far.

At least I won't be feeling for too much longer.

**A/N: There you have it; took a bit longer to write and get to a computer to upload it than I thought it would. Tsukasa is really starting to get sick of the whole 'living' thing...I wonder how she's going to kick the bucket. Suicide is too simple for her. **

**Sorry for the late update, but it looks like it'll be upwards of a week for each update now, due to my current schedule. **

**In other news, I'm starting to maneuver things in the story to allow for a sequel if I really want to. **

**Leave a review, I'd really appreciate it! **


	11. And So It Spreads

The Library

Chapter 11: And So It Spreads

**A/N: Yeah, a bit late, but like I said, it's gonna be a long haul till the end. I haven't forgotten, I'm just pressed for time. Accept this chapter as a humble apology. :D**

"Let's get these doors open." Tsukasa's voice was hushed, as we had almost revealed ourselves to the black-clad soldier who had swept down the hallway below us, halting our descend on the stairs.

This wasn't the police; they had real guns, like us. They were pulling out all the stops, and we would get killed in a millisecond if we were seen. We're going to the cafeteria and blowing the doors open, as a last "fuck you" to everyone. We might die in the blast if we can't get away, we might not. It might be preferable, because if we don't, the gas will get us.

"Damnit! The doors are locked." Oh no. This means we're going to have to use a bomb on these, too...and that will definitely alert the guys who just went into the second floor hallway.

I looked at Tsukasa. Her hair was ragged, and her eyes were wide, not with fear, but resignation. She pulled a bomb out of her bag, and got up. We backed around the corner, she lit the pipe filled with explosives, and tossed it.

The explosion crumpled the steel doors like paper, and alerted everyone and their extended family of our location. We bolted through the wrecked doorway, and took an immediate right down the hallway that ran alongside the lunch room. We could hear shouting and voices behind us, but we reached the end of the hallway and turned into the opposite hallway, where the kitchen and maintenance hallways were. Tsukasa pulled on a door and surprisingly, it opened. She pulled me into it and I shut the door quickly, but quietly, behind us.

The shouts were getting louder, and came very near to us, close enough to make out voices and listen to what was being said.

"What the hell was that?"

That voice...no...there's no way...

"No idea ma'am, but I think I saw someone run away from the area. The fuck kind of psychos have bombs, anyways? What's next, poison gas and brainwashing?"

"...I don't know Lieutenant, I don't know...now shut up and do your job. Check those corners, silent until I say. I don't want anyone else dying today."

"Yes ma'am, and I can agree with you on that."

As the two voices retreated into the distance, I was left reeling with my thoughts. Yui-neesan was here! I couldn't...no...this is all wrong...what am I going to do...and Tsukasa...

I looked to the lilac-haired maniac in the dark, who was singing the edges of her hair with the lighter. She wasn't going to let me walk out on her now...and she'd have no qualms about killing a cop, so what happens now?

"Well, they're gone. Lets go fuck the blast doors six ways to Sunday." She opened the door and stepped into the still brightly-lit hallway. It felt like such a hallowed ground that the illumination was intruding on it, somehow. I followed behind her, digging into my backback for the bombs I had left. She did the same, and we stopped in front of the thick metal doors, easily 3cm thick of steel.

But then again, we had a LOT of explosives. We were also going for the reinforced section of wall next to it, not the doors themselves.

"How many do you have?" I'm on autopilot now, so I count them up.

"21, only 9 full pipes though. You?" I look to her pile, which is much bigger.

"18 full pipes, 34 total. That's enough, set them over here." She knelt down and set the pile of improvised boomsticks (wow, that's a bad joke self, stop that.) about a meter to the left of the door. I set my bundle next to hers, and began to separate their fuses and wind them together.

I looked up at her again. She was furrowing her brow in concentration, each movement of her wrist causing her rifle to hit against her. The rifle that was still covered in blood from her...treatment of her sister.

She's fucking insanse, I can't do this. Well, maybe the blow open the wall thing, but just...everything. How am I going to live with myself? I'm a horrible person. I've killed today, and nothing's ever going to change that fact. But her...I can make it a little better for me. By killing her. Yes. Perfect. I'll kill her, but how? She's watching me out of the corner of my eye, I know it. If I make a move for my gun, or rather, her gun, she'll kill me. I don't know. Maybe I'll kill her when she's awed by the horrors lying inside this room.

Wait.

That's it!

I get rid of all of my stuff with the explosion, then while she's waiting to get inside, I'll choke the life out of her! I'll have killed the mastermind of the operation, thereby saving myself!

No. What does that make me? A killer, that's what. Well, it just further solidifies my perch as one. And how do I know they won't just kill me on sight anyways? Well, it's worth a shot.

"Hey, finish wiring that fuse, and tie it around mine. We haven't much time, come on!" She was looking at me anxiously. She must know something's up...well, too late now.

I took the grenade out of my handkerchief with her eyes on me, and placed it neatly on the mound of explosives. She looked at me incredulously. I just shrugged.

"It'll make a bigger boom, right?" Tsukasa just sighed and shook her head, but nevertheless took the now-completed fuse in her hands and unrolled it to its full extent, nearly half a meter in total.

"Whatever you say Izumi." She never calls me Izumi. Uh oh, this is bad. She _knows. _Do I try and kill her now? No, I'm...I'm what? I have moral qualms? Not at all, she's a bitch and needs to die. Am I scared? Also a fat no...okay, maybe I'm kind of scared. I don't want to die! Not yet...not...after I killed...hundreds...oh god.

What have I done.

No. This never happened. It was the ploy of a witch. A witch with only a few minutes to live, as it so happens. A witch I'm walking to a corner with, and watching light the fuse that will blow open the wall that contains a cesspool of poison gas that will kill everyone in a large area if it's released in such a form.

No.

No.

No. This is wrong. But I'm fixing it, one breath at a time.

My body is moving on its' own. I'm moving forward, stepping on the fuse, halting the passage of the spark, pushing her aside, surprising her.

Turning now, I see her face light up in surprise, then anger. She's reaching for the rifle, encased in human blood. Not happening.

My fist connects with her nose, and in my fury of thoughts and movements, I see it crack and flutter with specks of blood. She's going down, but it still trying to bring up the gun. I ducked, and the sound of bullets firing and the wind it caused as they rushed by me was not lost on myself.

Then she was down, the rifle skittering out of her hands, and as my eyes followed it, I saw the fuse.

It was still going, not a full fire anymore, but a small spark was creeping ever closer to the pile. It wasn't safe. The corner of the hallway was only a few meters away. I made a dash for it, but I fell as a hand tightened on my ankle, sending me sprawling, still getting closer to the corner, to safety.

Her face was one of utter madness, burning hatred that may go unequaled for quite some time. Her nose was bleeding heavily, but she obviously didn't care.

"You..._bitch..._" The fuse is still burning, and we're still in view, still in harm's way. I turn from the vengeful demon and drag myself against her iron grip, sliding around the corner, before feeling the grip vanish, and I fell and slid around the corner, before feeling a foot connect with the back of my head and sending me smashing into the floor, before sliding along the floor.

I rolled onto my back, seeing her kneeling on her knee, holding her face, even as a steady torrent of blood spilled around her fingers.

In the middle of the floor between us, was an object of interest.

The shotgun. It had been on my back, but after getting batte around, it must have fallen off. It was loaded still.

No one moved, our eyes on the gun, then each other, and they didn't move.

"Why try to kill me Izumi? It's your fault these people are dead," She knocked the wall, on which the other side was dead silent.

"My fault?! I didn't even really want to do this in the first place! I was wrong about my choice, and I hate myself for it!" She looked up, her face coated in blood, not all of it hers.

"Don't worry Izumi, I hate you too." She took a step forward, but collapsed under her own weight. She must have injured her foot when she fell.

"At least we can agree on something." I ran forward and slid on my knees, going past the shotgun and picking it up in one deft movement.

The world turned upside down and we were both thrown against the wall and pelted with debris as the silence was replaced with the rumble of a wall collapsing and the booming noise that happens when several kilos of high explosive detonates in a highly confined space.

I heard something snap when I hit the wall, but Hiiragi was right next to me, so maybe I can hope that it was her. I don't think I'm that lucky, though.

The dust began to settle, and it revealed exactly what we both knew ot be inside.

I got up slowly, tenderly, and so did she, our deathmatch all but forgotten. The contents of the cafeteria were being laid bare for all to see. I pulled my shirt up over my mouth, hoping I didn't breath any of that terrible, terrible gas in.

The interior was like an orgy of pus, blisters, and blood. Every table, every square inch that wasn't shredded by the bombs had a body on it, in most places several deep. Some of them had died standing up, the horrible pus oozing out all over, hardening into a shell that would take a mallet to remove.

Hiiragi climbed over the remains of the wall, into the room itself. She stopped at a table where a laptop had been used by its' former owner. She looked at it, looking like she was reading something on screen.

Suddenly she shrieked and picked up the laptop, closing it and throwing it to the floor, intending to smash it.

It never made it to the floor. The sound of it hitting something soft was heard, and Tsukasa was sprayed with yellow pus and...liquidized flesh, causing her to shriek and myself to shudder. I was still outside the room, not wanting to go anywhere near the room, it's sole living occupant, and its' mountains of dead occupants. There was something about the store room of the dead that made me want to run, and so I did.

The closet that we had been in was still open, and I ran in, closed the door, sat down, in the fetal position, and tried to think.

She was in there, I was out here. We were both unarmed, but I was clean, and she was covered in blood. There was a good chance they'd identify her as being the cause. They. The authorities. What am I to them? If they know everything, a dirrty phreaker who masterminded the murder of hundreds. If they know nothing, I'm just a student hiding in a closet, scared shitless of the world going to shit around her. I like the second one.

Wait. Those are voices. Of course, the blast would've drawn people towards this place like moth to a flame. I'm on the verge of tears anyways, so I'll start crying, and once they're close, cry a little higher, get found, and rescued...hopefully.

Yeah...I like that idea.

Oh my god...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...no...

Line Break:

It's glorious. So glorious. The very _air _smells like breath. Or maybe that's the gas. At this point, I don't even care. We've created this, this wonderful scene of death. Everyone, absolutely everyone in here is dead, and it is quite plain to see that they were in _agony _until the very end. It makes me smile to see this. No matter how rich or poor they were, no matter what gender, age, aspirations, it didn't matter. They still died like the herd they were. Slumped on each other, their skin burning away from the acrid particles, their bodies forming pus-filled pustules to try, try and fail, might I add, to be rid of the infection.

Now I have it, too. It may be faint, but I'm tainted. I'm glad; now this suffering I have called life can finally be over, and the next step on my journey can start.

What's this? A laptop, among the bodies on a table. It's only a few meters away, so it's easy enough to walk on top of the carpet of flesh and look at it.

It has a chat open, between one "Kamiya" and an unnamed other party. Well Kamiya, hope you burn in hell.

Wait. There's a blinking light on the laptop. The camera is on!

NO!

I picked it up, shut it, and threw it to the floor. But it didn't break. It broke a pustule the size of my fist that had been on someone's bare back, which burst all over me. It tasted like bile, and I wretched, wiping the vile substance from my face with my sleeves, which were by now soaked with red and white bodily fluids.

"_What the fuck!" _I didn't mean to yell, and I heard footsteps fading away. Konata, that traitor...oh well, she's dead anyways.

I collapsed into the pile of bodies I was on, suddenly tired. I tried to take a deep breath, but I sniffed the air and in a convulsion, emptied a pool of bile onto the nearest corpse, a girl who may have looked pretty, but with half of her face sagging off in drooping, scalded flesh, she was just ugly. And covered in bile, but that was a recent development.

It's over.

I'm finished, Konata's finished, Hiyori's probably dead already. Sis will be in pain for the rest of her life. Unless I went too far, in which case she might be dead. I'll find out in a few minutes, either way.

It feels like an eternity, however long its been since that bell rang, at precisely 11 A.M. It may have been days, for all I know, but it can't have been any longer than 2 hours, at the most.

Two hours, hundreds of lives, and three people. Us. We turned the school upside down, showed no mercy, and in the end, we'll be joining them.

I think we did good. Maybe, just maybe, that revolution I talked about, in passing, maybe it'll come true. Maybe we started something greater than we can comprehend. Or rather, _I _started. Sure, those two helped me, but they didn't follow through. Hiyori tried to kill me, and Izumi is now off in parts unknown.

My skin is starting to burn, I can feel lit. It's not bad, but it's noticeable. It won't be long now.

Where was I? Ah yes, the revolution. Even if this falls upon deaf ears, dead ears, or none at all, at least I'll know that I thought it, and that's all that really matters.

Society is stagnating, it's plain to see. This oppressive work environment we are all bred to take on is not going to lead to evolution. It may have even killed it I did not have the idea, the dedication, the inspiration to change all of that.

I hear voices. Shouts. It draws ever closer, my own end. I must hurry now, to tell you what it is I think.

Those with bright minds will realize that you must kill and destroy what is wrong in order to rise up with what is right. Countries have been formed and crushed by this principle, and by virtue monolithic governments who wish to control society itself, that sort of insurrection is always put down before it ever starts.

But not anymore. Three people terrorized this school, and thanks to the power of the media, the country, more effectively than any organized group could have.

If you work in the sunlight, the government will burn you to a crisp with a magnifying glass that increases your insecurities tenfold. Work in the shadows, where these former weaknesses are turned into strengths that fuel your desire for revenge, and you will become strong. Strong enough to fight back against the government, against the unjust systems that govern our lives.

In the next life, I hope I can lead such a revolution.

And next time, I won't be slaughtering everyone. No, far from it. I can only hope that through my martyrdom, a global revolution is sparked. There will be much bloodshed, with the old ways fighting against the people, the _new _people, but if there's one thing they could learn, is that change is inevitable, and maybe, just maybe, if they accept it, they won't have massacres happen occasionally. Or at all.

But in order for such an event to disappear from the public eye, the roads will be paved and re-paved with the blood, sweat, and tears of a million martyrs. If I die a million times to make it happen, such is life. A cycle that never really ends.

I have planted my seeds.

I'll be waiting.

Line Break:

"Everyone, secure your helmets! The anomaly scan showed trace amounts of an unknown substance in the area, probably from that blast from a minute ago. This is the last area of the school that isn't secure, so keep your eyes peeled." I looked at my watch. Almost 1430 hours. Three hours since that phone call that made us wonder about the sanity of the world.

"Hold it! Debris in this hallway!" I moved up to the soldier who had his arm raised in the 'stop' signal, looking around a corner. He gestured to a chunk of masonry that lay at the end of the hallway,

"That wasn't here a few minutes ago, ma'am, we walked through here on our way to the foyer." This was true; someone had been through here in just the last few minutes. Possibly their mystery murderers, who were still on the loose.

"Everyone, move up to the corner, weapons free!" This earned a collective sigh; I was the only cop on a squad of real soldiers; no doubt they had been live the whole time. Oh well, nothing beats protocol.

"What...the...hell..." The next hallway was filled with the remains of the wall, and the wall had been destroyed, giving a surreal look into the interior 'safe' room that had been sealed for the entirety of the chaos.

It apparently wasn't safe. The interior was littered with bodies, in the most grotesque shapes possible. It was plainly obvious that they weren't killed by gunshots. Each and every one of them had horrible welts and rips in their skin, oozing a yellowish pus that tainted their very skin color. Not a single survivor, that's for sure. I breath caught in my throat. If Konata was in here...no, don't think that way! She's probably already out of here, escorted out by the first medical staff on scene. Back to the task at hand...

Inside, a girl with lilac sat atop a mountain of corpses, talking to herself while peeling chunks of her skin off of her body. She was talking to a corpse that sit next to her, its' face a droopy mess of nasty...meat.

I threw up a little in my throat.

"Apprehend the girl, but don't hurt her!" Two of the men were already picking their way into the ruined cafeteria; one of them stopped and snorted.

"Miss, I think she's hurting herself more than we can." He pointed, so where she was now attempting to peel the skin off of the back of her hand, which was covered in the same pus that oozed from...everyone...

The same soldier grabbed the girl roughly by the hand, causing her to see us, or at least acknowledge us, for the first time.

She wrenched her hand away with a look of disgust, in the process falling from her perch onto a nearby table, revealing similar welts and blisters on her arms and legs. She looked at us with madness in her eyes...or maybe spite? The girl wasn't right in the head, is what I'm trying to say here.

"So! You've found me at last! How does it feel, that I killed everyone here! You couldn't save them, their fates were sealed the moment they entered this place! You may be looking for terrorists, but there were none! Only two, my accomplices number, and I killed one myself! The other, who knows where she may be, she left me long ago. Now, kill me! I beg for sweet release! If you don't the mustard gas will kill me slowly! I beg of you! Kill me! Kill me, and save my sister! Third floor science rooms, there may be another one with a hole in her mouth! Alas, my time has come! KILL ME."

The girl sat up suddenly, lunging at the soldier who snorted. She dug into his leg, and he cried out in pain, but rather predictably responded by shooting her. Multiple times. In the face.

There wasn't any identifying of that body anymore; the chunks of her face and hair, with that peculiar hair color, were all that were left of that poor girl.

The girl must have been crazy; there's no way three people caused all of this. That's impossible; a miracle of guerilla warfare if it were to be true, even taking into account the unarmed civilians. But some elements of it matched up. The hermetic sealing due to an anomaly; wouldn't that be the shit if it were mustard gas? And the "unused" science rooms hadn't been...checked...yet.

Everything was being recorded, thankfully. Talking into the mic, I sent out orders.

"You listening to this, chief?"

"Yeah, and get me the name of the dumb fuck who just killed that girl."

"...Tousen, sir, his name is Tousen. Can you send a team up to the third floor's unused science rooms, just in case there is some credence in what was said?"

The radio static fizzed for a few seconds while I analyzed the nearest patch of wall with great interest.

"Already on it ma'am, we'll report back when we have confirmation."

"...Alright, let's get the hell out of this room. This is creeping me the fuck out. I didn't sign up for this shit." I was about to reprimand the soldier, but held my tongue, on ground of agreeing with him; a mass grave of high school students, their safety blanket ultimately leading to their deaths.

Back in the hallway, I froze. Everyone else did too.

The sound of sobbing. It was faint, but it was definitely there. I looked to the others, who just shrugged and pointed in different directions. I moved towards the complete section of the wall, and the sound got just a microscopic amount louder, so I headed for the wall of closets that, according to their labels, stored cleaning equipment.

It was distinct now, the hushed sniffling of someone who was scared and trying not to be heard. No doubt that whoever it was , had heard the gunshots from Tousen's rifle, and had every right to be scared.

I gripped my gun, turning my safety on. I wasn't risking anything. I scare easily, and I don't want something like that on my conscience.

I opened the first door, which was full to the brim with mops and brooms, and full of exactly no people.

The second one held similar contents, but the sound grew louder, to being very crisp at the third one. I paused. This was a delicate situation.

I knocked three times. There was an intake of air on the other side, and I grabbed the door handle and turned the door. The rapid breathing could be heard inside the closet, so I called out to the individual inside.

"It's alright! This is the police, we're here to help." Sure, the police is usually clad in black body-armor and full face helmets that make us sound like Darth Vader.

I opened the door...and there was Konata, red-eyed and crying. She obviously wouldn't know it was me, but I could barely stop myself from grabbing her in my arms and squezing.

Oh my god, she's okay! I laughed in my helmet, but quickly played it off as relief in general, as my voice was still deep Dark Side-ish.

"C'mon, we got a survivor! I'm going to escort her to the foyer, everyone else stay here and wait for confirmation from the team that's heading for the third floor." I started walking, taking Konata's shoulder in my hand. She looked shaken, and rightly so. I still couldn't believe she was okay.

As she was slowly coaxed to walk, I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her along.

"Come on, hurry up, we need to get you out of here!" She looked like she was about to cry.

"Why, what happened? I heard guns a few minutes ago..." She's absolutely devastated...

"The...bad people used a toxic gas in the cafeteria, it's highly dangerous if you breathe it in." Her face dropped and looked at my face, no, my helmet's facade with a look of loathing. I didn't like it, even though I knew it wasn't _me _she was aiming it at.

"You mean the killers. They killed people." So blunt...what did she see today? I'm afraid to ask, but I'm sure I'll get a short version of it someday...

"...Yes, the killers. Were you hiding in that closet the whole time? I had been through this area a few minutes ago on a sweep, and we didn't hear anything..." Konata shook her hair, again looking like she was on the verge of tears.

"N-no...I was in class eating when people first started screaming, and an explosion freaked everyone out. I was in the classroom until I heard gunshots in the next room over...as soon as they stopped, I entered the room and managed to see someone with a shotgun and plum-colored hair exiting into the hallway...they were going to my classroom, so I ran into the hallway and downstairs. I was in the main office...with the dead people...until I heard something explode nearby, and ran into that corridor, where I was in there until you found me..."

Oh god, she saw the killer...which really was the purple-haired girl? Well, she's not going to influence anyone hurting anyone anymore. That's just some sick and twisted shit right there. Though she had to have had help...judging by her state of mind, I'd say they're dead too. A shame; finding out what happened here was not a top priority, but knowing was better than being left in the dark about it.

We arrived in the main lobby, which was eerily quiet. Outside, the series of tents, riot personnel, and blast shields could be seen, forming the impromptu base-camp where anyone they found was being moved to. A different set of tents was further away, where plastic bags could be seen laid out. Each bag contained a corpse, and those tents would be expanded as more were...recovered.

She shivered in cold air; all of the windows had been blown out and the crisp air from outside was causing the temperature to drop inside. I put my arm around her, causing her to look up in fear. She still couldn't see my face, so I just shook my head and patted her shoulder. The sirens in the background just now began to register in my brain. Their constant drone throughout the past hour caused them to be virtually eliminated from my awareness.

"This is where I have to leave you. Go to the tents with people, they'll help you. I have to go back into the school, I'm needed. And the girl with purple hair...she's dead. A man in my squad killed her when she attacked him in the cafeteria...you're safe now."

Konata's face didn't get any better, but she nodded, her eyes still glistening with tears that had yet to gain enough weight to fall. She gave a small, awkward wave, eying my gun, and turned, almost sprinting to the front doors and out into the parking lot. She ran all the way to the line of blast shields, where I could see her taken into the arms of several soldiers.

I turned to head back into the school, when my helmet mic sprang to life.

"Why'd you tell that girl what happened? That's classified information!" The chief, of course.

"She's my cousin, and no one said it's classified yet." He didn't answer back, apparently satisfied with the response, blunt though it may be.

"You know, they found someone in the place that girl had said there would be." The chief sounded uncertain, which was never a good sign. The man had nerves of steel, and even he wasn't taking this whole ordeal very well. What was worse than poison gas and a room full of dead kids?

"...What was it, if I may ask, sir?"

"...Two girls, near the stairwell. One of them was completely naked, her...area, ripped apart by something, we're not sure what. Another girl was next to her, a single bullet right through the sides of her mouth. They're both breathing, but in bad shape, and the team who went up there is bringing them both down to the gym for immediate evac to the hospital.

It should be noted that they're two of only three people who we've found that have been injured but still alive, the other being that girl you found in the stairwell with the shotgun wound. Everyone else is either dead, or ran at the first sign of trouble and didn't see the culprits at all. We have absolutely no leads on who did this."

That's bad. That's really, really bad. No culprits will mean no scapegoat, and no scapegoat means a PR disaster. To make matters worse, this was the worst massacre in a long time, and possibly the most deadly school killing the modern world has ever seen.

"Well, we're going to be sending in cleanups now, you can return to the staging area for some rest...after what you've seen today, I'll be surprised if you don't go nuts. I've wretched more than a few times with the images getting sent back here, and this isn't even the worst of it...so thank you for your brave actions in this tumultuous environment." The chief sounded flustered, even a bit embarrassed, but he was a good man, if a bit gruff.

"I'm just doing my duty as an officer of the law, sir; I'm on my way to the evac area. Yui out."

Line Break:

The outside of the school was in disarray. Shattered glass lay on the ground, and looking back up at the school, a lot of windows were shattered, and some debris, including a desk, had landed outside.

The soldiers, with their big guns and heavy armor, brought me into the safety of the area quickly, leading me to a room full of people who had escaped from the school safely.

At first, I was practically wetting myself with panic, worried that someone would recognize me, but it soon turned out that through some stroke of luck, anyone who had seen me with the psycho Hiiragi and Tamura-san were dead. Some of the people in the school, due to the instantaneous crowds affected by mass hysteria, had been trampled to death in the rush to get out; they had practically scraped some of the poor people into the transparent bags that they were bringing past the open-air tent where we were huddled together.

The faces and limbs pressing against the thin material stood out as each one passed me, as I was sitting on the edge, waiting for someone to recognize me, and realize my betrayal, if it could be called that.

I don't know what I was thinking. Though, if I make it through this, I won't have to worry about getting made fun of by those who did; they're all dead, we made damn sure of that. Does that make me a monster?

Wait, the circuit board! I still have it in my pocket!

I quickly felt around in my pocket and withdrew it, silently dropping it to the ground and crushing it under foot. It was in short order nothing more than a collection of shattered bits of PCB and a few strands of the remains of an LED.

Almost as if to add to the dreadful atmosphere already generated by the event, it had since started to rain lightly, and being on the edge of the tent, I was able to get the remains of the board wet, further disfiguring them and making it impossible to determine what use, if any, the components had been used for.

"Excuse me, may I have your attention please!" The muffled voice of one of those armored individuals carried over the crowd, causing the uneasy chatter that had been floating around to cease, almost at once.

The same armored figure that had found me after I initiated the sob act was standing in front of a small podium, addressing the group of students. It was a woman, that much could be determined through the chestplate. I don't think she was in the same section of the police as all of the soldiers, though; she had been using a much lighter gun than the rifles the military personnel walking around had.

"Thank you for waiting patiently while we have contained the situation. Let me begin by saying that I am greatly saddened that such an event has taken place today, and I feel nothing but great sympathy from the families of those who are no longer with us.

We are still unsure what exactly occurred here today, but we do know that multiple individuals opened fire on the populace of the school, and at some point a highly deadly toxin was released into the air inside the school. We have tried our best to contain this, but it is still an ongoing process. Out of 1,387 students and teachers, less than 200 of you stand before us right now. The rest is currently unaccounted for.

At this time, you will be allowed to go home to your families, and we will be issuing an official report on the situation at some point in the next week. For obvious reasons, school activities will be postponed until further notice. If you have any questions, please, don't hesitate to call the police station and discuss it with the help desk. That is all, and I wish all of you safe passage on your ways' home." The figure bowed, and with a single motion, the crowd of people began to move towards the sidewalk, eager to leave this place.

The conversations I could hear around me brought me to tears again, this time hating myself instead of hating those around me.

"My little brother hasn't called me yet, I hope he's okay...last I saw him, he was headed to the cafeteria."

"Oh my god, I saw Kana in a bag out there! No, I mean it! It was her!"

"Who would do such a thing? I hope they rot in Hell."

"Hey, you notice that none of the real drama queens or sports stars are out here? You think these psychos were gunning for certain people, maybe?"

"Nah, they were just wackos with guns. I hope I get to piss on their graves."

Guilt washed over me, but I kept silent even as I neared the train station, conscious of the negative emotions flowing towards the faceless "Ryoo Bomber Bandits", as an underclassman near me coined it to be, and was quickly adopted by those in the crowd.

As some of the group split off to climb the stairs to the opposite train platform, to go into the city, I realized I had no money to get home. I asked a lean girl next to me who had been chatting animatedly with her friend about everything for some money.

"Excuse me, I don't have any money...would you be able to spare some change? I'm only going 5 stations." The girl looked at me, and surprisingly, didn't recoil in disgust or, as I'd expect more recently, fear.

"What's that? Oh, yeah, sure, hang on a second...you're Izumi, right? I see you ride the train most days, where'd your money go?"

Oh shit, I hadn't thought of that. I hadn't brought any because I thought I'd be lying in a pool of my own brain matter by now, but I couldn't say that, now could I?

"I lost my wallet while I was running away from the gunshots and everything...I had close to 25 thousand yen in that wallet, too..." The girls face changed to one of understanding, nodding as she handed me a handful of coins.

"That much? Wow, that stinks...it's probably gone now. I just cant believe something like this could happen. I think my brain still doesn't get it, because I cried for a few days when my kitten died, but I think this is going to take a bit longer to really...get, ya'know?" I nodded, putting on a thoughtful face, finally able to breathe easy, or at least, easier. Still a couple of loose ends to tie up, but they were easy tasks, except for maybe the note I sent to my friends...especially Kuroi. She'd get the gist of it, and understand why I 'wouldn't need them anymore'. I'd need to invent a story to fix that, which would be difficult, but probably doable.

"You still there Izumi?" The tall girl was still talking to me, her friend having wandered away to talk to a girl who was blowing her nose on her uniform's handkerchief.

"What? Oh, yeah...uh...sorry, I don't know your name..." The girl laughed, which was odd for this situation, but I was an axe-murderer in sheep's clothing, so it could be understandable.

"I never gave it, silly! My name is Sekine Mitsurugi, but you can just call me Sekine. Oh look, the train's here!" Indeed it was, and we boarded the lightly populated train. The time said 4:00P.M.; the school rush was over, and the evening work rush had yet to begin.

After the train was in motion, Sekine turned to face me, obviously intent on breaking the blissful silence that had formed in the past few minutes.

"You need to get yourself cleaned up, you know that, right?" I looked at her, before she took out a pocket mirror and showed me. She was right; I had spatters of blood on me, and that didn't look good, and wouldn't help my cover any.

"I'll get washed up at home, but thanks for thinking of me." I smiled at the girl, trying to push her away from suspecting anything, but she frowned and shook her head, causing her jet black hair to swing around in sweeping arcs.

"No, like, it doesn't look good at all. You might have some cuts underneath that or something. Let's get you all cleaned up in the bathroom when we get off the train, alright?" Well, she sounds concerned for my well-being, and seems to know who I am, so I guess it's okay.

I nodded, and she gave a cheerful smile, turning her head and humming a strangely familiar tune for the remainder of the short ride to the station closest to my house, a mere 10-minute walk from home.

Sekine grabbed my hand and dragged me into the bathroom, where she led me right up to the sinks, turning on the water for me, even. That's beyond generic caring, I think. As I looked into the mirror to clean the blood from my face, I saw her right over my shoulder, staring into my eyes in the mirror. Her face had changed: it was excited, manic even. Her eyes had a knowing look. Oh, fucking hell.

"I know what you did. I'm inspired by this; this is the beginning of a new era."

**A/N: Holy mother of shit, that chapter was long. Longer than the previous 2 combined, most likely. I've decided I **_**am **_**doing a sequel, so a lot of new elements were introduced, and of course the death of our primary antagonist, which was to be expected. Now comes the final chapter to take place on this day, after which we'll be seeing a time-skip or two. We're oh so close to the end, I hope all of you have enjoyed it so far and will enjoy the rest as well. **

**If you could, leave a review, or if you're shy, just PM me. I love hearing feedback on my stories, and listen to/take into consideration any creative input that's thrown my way. **

**Keep calm and trip-mine the dinosaur. That is all.**


	12. Day Breaker

The Library

Chapter 12: Day Breaker

**A/N: Interestingly, The Library now has more views than any of my other stories, having passed Vapor at about noon on Saturday. Just thought it was a little tidbit of information. Anyways, you're just ****DYING ****to read this chapter, so here you go!**

Line Break: (I'm starting to put any extra details, just one or two words, in the line breaks, just to explain something if need be)

It was very hard to breathe, making me wonder what happened. Where am I? My eyelids feel like they are weighed down by bricks, and now that I concentrate on my chest, it's starting to hurt terribly. I tried to move my hand, only to find it immobilized, half by a restraint of some type, half by pain. I cried out, it was like a hot brand on flesh. What the….?

"The girl is awake! Go get the officer who picked her up, she's awake!" Voices floated into my head, I might have heard them. I'm awake, so what? I'm not…..special…..

All of today's events came rushing back to me. If I could have snapped my eyes open, I would've, but they remained resolutely closed. I was still alive, somehow, but the pain tells me it might be only barely, and very well could be temporary. The officer…..that lady Yui, she was here, and not dead…..if the police had found me, that meant that it was over. Tsukasa and Konata are probably dead, but however they went out wasn't as spectacular as they'd planned.

There was a heavy set of footsteps approaching, boots on waxed floors maybe? They stopped right next to me, I think, and a much softer version of the voice that had talked to me while I lay at the bottom of the stairs spoke to me. No helmet, maybe? I still didn't have the strength to open my eyes, so I didn't know for sure.

"Miss Tamura, are you awake? Just nod if you can hear me." I nodded, surprised that I could do so, feeling the strain it brought to my chest, but managing to not vocalize my pain.

"Good. You're lucky to be alive right now. The surgeons have removed 90% of the shrapnel that was in your chest, but that will take time to heal. The shots that hit your arm shattered the bone, and while the shrapnel was removed, your hand will be in a cast for several months, and it may be years for your hand to be at full functioning capacity.

You've been out for a while, it's nearly 9 P.M. Your family has been alerted to your condition, and your father is returning to Japan from his business trip. Your uncle has already been by to see you, and he wants you to call him once you are well enough."

Heh, my 'uncle' was just my father's man close to home. My father wouldn't be returning anytime soon, either; he is currently in America gaining allies. He might visit me in a few months, berate me for getting myself injured, and then leave again. Such is life, I guess.

The next few hours blurred together; I was awake, but nothing really happened. I just laid there, listening to the sounds of the hospital, the constant rushing of medical personnel doing one thing or another, and listening to the drone of a TV in the next room, which was on a popular talk show, currently discussing the spread of a Korean pop song on the internet. At some point I managed to open my eyes, but the room was dark, with the only indication of my eyes being open the neon light that seeped in through the window shades to the left of me.

I could have sworn that part of my eyelid had been missing after what happened today, but I think it might have gotten rolled into itself, which would have a similar effect to not having a portion of it.

After what was probably a few hours, the station on the TV was switched, and I started listening in earnest. It was a news station.

"Viewer discretion is advised. We do not withhold the truth from our viewers, and sometimes, the truth hurts…

..….continuing our coverage of the devastating attack mounted on Ryoo High School today, we now have a semi-accurate death toll tallied. Of the nearly 1400 students and staff to attend the prestigious school daily, less than 300 made it out under their own power today. Nearly 40 students were found in various states of injury, and the rest have been confirmed to be dead. The attack began at approximately 11 in the morning, when the local police force received a noise complaint from the area around Ryoo, about various concussions and loud booming noises being heard. Not a minute after that, a steady stream of emergency responses and calls to the police were sent from within the school, both from cell phones and inside lines.

Three types of weapons were seen in the attacks: bombs, conventional firearms, and gas. Analysts have not determined what type of gas was released, but it was plainly toxic, with its' victims falling dead of severe cell death and asphyxiation less than half an hour after the attacks began.

Eyewitness reports of the killers vary widely, with anywhere between 2 and 5 killers being reported. Only one of them has been identified, and she was killed when she attempted to attack an officer. The girl was identified as Hiiragi Tsukasa, a 3rd year student with no previous criminal record.

That's correct; at least one of, if not all, of the perpetrators were female. They were brutal in their killing, leaving a select few alive, but only after torturing them. One student was found with a single bullet entrance and exit hole, right through the cheeks. Another is in critical condition, having had her lower torso ripped apart by some large object. Another girl was found at the bottom of a flight of stairs, her torso riddled with shrapnel. These three cases were still alive, and are being treated at the local hospital.

Several decapitations due to the bombings have been encountered, and the gas victims are fleshy masses of pus and blisters. It is believed that the Hiiragi girl killed the others, as the only explanation we have to their mannerisms was recorded by the officer's helmet mic that ended up killing the girl. She was out of touch with reality, and pleaded with the police to kill her, before attempting to attack the officer closest to her.

These young demons were prepared, however. When the police attempted to retrieve the security tapes, they discovered that the tapes had been altered and none of the cameras had recorded anything from the past 24 hours. This leads the authorities with no leads on who the other perpetrators were.

Furthermore, the firearms retrieved from a collapsed section of hallway were of American origin, and military grade. Two short-barreled assault rifles using the 5.56 NATO round were found, as well as a sawed-off shotgun, both models used by the American military. Empty STANAG magazines were found scattered around the school, as well as spent casings.

In addition to these facts, spent gas canisters that had apparently contained the malignant gas were found in gym bags in the corner of the cafeteria by the hazmat teams while they were cordoning off the area. They appeared to have been brought to school by traditional means, which means they also could have been on the trains in the area for a short time this morning.

We go to you live, at the school….."

Wow. They were fucking clueless, and thought that Hiiragi killed her cohorts. Good thing that psycho is dead. She was nothing but trouble, unless you liked to get shot in the back, metaphorically, but shot in the front, literally.

Brrrrrrring.

The phone next to the bed rang, but I couldn't answer it. It rang a few times, before going to the answering machine. The person calling was leaving a message. It was Patty.

"Hiyori! Omigod, I just heard what happened on the news! I was waiting for you to come to my house, but when you didn't come, I thought you'd forgotten and gone to school! I mean, you can be an idiot like that sometimes. Then I just heard that, and I panicked! I called your house, and your uncle picked up, and he gave me this number. I'm so relieved that you're alive! I'm going to come visit you tomorrow morning, because, you know, there won't be school for a while…..anyways! I hope you get well soon, and I'll give you a kiss where it hurts tomorrow to make you feel better! Love ya, bye!"

…..Wow. This might end up working out. Patty easily glossed over why I didn't go straight to her house, and she even said 'Love ya'! Giving me a kiss where it hurts…..I wonder if I can tell her something lewd…..hehe.

Line Break: The Skeletons in Miyuki's Closet

"So, how was school today, Yuki, dear?" My mother looked at me from across the table, stirring up the rice and sauce on her plate. I hadn't said anything yet, I couldn't. I just couldn't. She'd hear it on the news later tonight, for sure. I could just blurt out that everything had been turned upside down and that two girls I thought I knew had shot up the school.

What was keeping me from saying something? Well, there was shame, for one. I had been there, and had been purposefully spared by them. If I had been braver, maybe I could have stood in front of them, tried to get them to see reason. Stopped the bloodshed right there. But I didn't. I just ran with the others they let go, ran out of the school, into the arms of the police, and cowered like caged animals If it was known that I could've done something and hadn't, I don't know what I'd do with myself.

For another, in what I saw of Konata while she was….assisting….Tsukasa, was that deep down, she didn't want to be doing any of this. I have read into body language extensively, and Konata was showing every sign in the book of disliking what she was doing, but attempting to force herself into believing that she liked it.

I think she was coerced into the ordeal by Tsukasa, and that it was only a temporary cause that made her resolute in her decision, at least for the time being. I believe in second chances, and if Hideki Toto got one, then why can't she?

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes as I contemplated everything. So many people were dead, all because of a couple of people being sick of their treatment by others. It was unneeded, but happened regardless of its' need to occur or not. Did that make them wrong? By some estimates, no, but everyone would just see them as killers and well...kill them. Tsukasa I can understand, but Konata...no. It may be wrong, but I'll try my best to get her out of this mess. She must see the error in her ways, she just has to...

"Dear, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" I grabbed the TV remote, which was on the table between us, and switched on the TV. As to be expected, Mother had left it on a news station, which was, rather predictably, showing the scene around the school. The camera man stopped to examine a victim, a girl with brown hair that was missing both of her legs, and surrounded in a pool of blood. The whole scene was lit only by a flashlight in the man's hand; power to the school had been cut.

"...Just watch...I'm not hungry anymore, I'm going to my room..." I got up, and with that, all but ran upstairs to my room, collapsing onto my bed and beginning to sob into the sheets. It was horrible, just horrible, but it was over and done with.

I stayed there for a while, letting the angst flow out of me in heaps, before getting up, only after it felt like I had no more tears to give. I grabbed a tissue from my nightstand and wiped my eyes and nose, taking an unsteady breath. I picked up my phone and began to dial a number. I needed to talk to someone. Someone who would know what to do.

"Miyuki, why are you calling so late?" She knew me well enough to know why I would be calling at this hour, but we're past the point of formalities.

"Minami-san, you know why I'm calling. You know what...happened today, right?" Silence for a few seconds, but in the background I heard someone emit a wet cough.

"...Yes, I know. It's quite terrible, but what's done is done. Do you wish to discuss it?" She was choosing her words carefully...who was she with? Come to think of it, she hadn't been at school today...where was she? Oh well, more pressing matters at hand.

"Someone related to it, yes. I know who the other person involved is." Silence, but I heard movement and a door closing, then another door opening and closing promptly, before she finally spoke.

"How do you know? Are you alright? How did you make it out okay?" I see, she was around someone she didn't want to let on what had happened.

"The killers let me go. I knew both of them quite well; they said it themselves, they didn't want someone like me to be harmed by their...crusade, I think they called it." I heard another voice, this one muffled by both the door that had closed and the limited quality of the phone.

"You okay in there Minami-san? You rushed in there there looking like you just saw a ghost!"

"Hang on, Miyuki." Minami's voice got faint as she called out through the door, but what she said chilled me to the bone.

"I needed to take a phone call Izumi-san; may I have some privacy?" Oh my god. She was right there. But why was Minami there? That didn't make any sense...did she have a hand in this too? No, that's impossible. I might be able to get to the bottom of this, right now.

"I'm back...Miyuki?"

"...can you hand the phone to Konata? I have something very important to talk to her about. And Minami, it doesn't matter about the other one, I just saw on the news with the cameras in the school, the other girl is dead. Her legs were ripped off, and she bled out. A shame."

"...That's disgusting, Miyuki, but I guess that's the truth...Izumi-san, Miyuki-san wishes to speak with you." I can just imagine how she feels right now...is she angry? Does she plan to kill me?

No. No she doesn't. She wouldn't plan on that. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't hurt a fly.

"...Hello?" I heard a door close again, but I also heard the sounds of the city; she was outside her apartment, most likely.

"Hello Konata-san, I think you can imagine why I'm calling you. Actually, I thought you were dead, and I was calling Minami for consolation. When I heard that you were still alive, and at home, my mind began to work very quickly. How are you?" She had to understand that I did not wish to hurt her, and that I believe in second chances.

"I feel fucking terrible. I know you're calling just to say that you're going to turn me in, and that makes me feel even worse. You know what? If I could take it all back, I would. I would never have agreed to do any of that with those two. I would have called them out on it, gotten them locked up, and never have to deal with any of this. I feel like everyone is watching me, judging me, even though there's probably only like 3 people that could ever identify me as one of the idiots that made out like a bandit."

"...Izumi-san, I'm not going to turn you in." Those few words compared to hers might have made more of an impact than hers did. I knew that she was going to regret it, and while it may seem shallow and slightly insane to not immediately condemn a killer, I can see that farther down the road in life, she will atone for her actions.

Wait. Them? Who's the other part of "them"?

"...Why not? I flipped the switch that killed hundreds, Miyuki! I set off the gas personally. Four hundred corpses are my weight to bear alone, not to mention the shooting and the guns and the...the...oh god, I killed so many people!" She began crying into the phone, but the noises around her began to die down, and she sounded like she was in a slightly more closed space, maybe an alley or courtyard.

"...That may be so, but I don't blame you entirely. Tsukasa was a master of manipulation, and she roped you and the other girl into her plan easily, and if she had approached anyone else who felt oppressed in any way, she might have brought them into the fold just as easily." Looking back, the girl was indeed very dangerous. That she had been able to keep up an act of innocence and plodding kindness for as long as I had known her was quite a feat in itself, but fooling everyone, even her own family, made her quite a skilled thespian. Extraordinary, in fact. Something I could never hope to match.

"...But...but...me and Hiyori went along with her! She made us do her bidding and by the time we thought about it, it was too late!" There's a name...Hiyori...Hiyori...wasn't that the name of a girl in the Art Club? Making doujins was her specialty, if I recall correctly...poor girl. She didn't deserve this.

"Calm down Izumi-san. I promise you that I will do nothing to bring you or Hiyori's names to light, but I wish to assist you in atoning for what you have done. You have still committed a great sin, regardless, but in the words of a wise man, 'kill one to save many, kill many to save them all'. You are at the crux of separate paths in life. I see three paths you may head down. The first, neutral, is if you do nothing and continue living as you have been. The other two are atonement and sin. If you lead the path of atonement, I will be happy for you and you will be happy. Sin is steeped in repeated acts of violence and will lead to disappointment from myself and your family."

The line was quiet for a few minutes, save for the small girl readjusting herself on whatever she was sitting on. Finally, she spoke, but her answer was just as thought-provoking as mine.

"Miyuki, I think I may have to cross all three of those paths at one point or another. Life isn't as cut-and-dry as that. I'm already in the path of sin, as you pointed out, but I think that, to 'save them all', I might have to sin again. Is that acceptable, as long as I eventually atone for my actions? It's not going to happen in a day, or even a year..." She had stopped crying, and had sounded dead serious. What did I think about killing a few to save many? It was rather despicable, but if it had to be done, it had to be done.

"...If you believe you can do the most good that way, then I will support you throughout it. But remember this: If you become someone who kills for the sake of killing, I will crush you and burn you alive while tearing your skin off millimeter by millimeter."

She didn't need to know why I was so dead set on this line, but I had reasons all my own. I'm not so short-sighted that I can't see the similarities here. She'll find out eventually, but not any time soon. It would be disastrous if that were to happen.

"I feel this subject is over with. If you may, give the phone back to Minami, but please look sad and maybe leave some tears on your face. If asked, say that I told you of the death of a dear friend. I know it sounds underhanded, but we have to keep your cover, hm?"

The answer I received back surprised me, but brought a small smile to my face.

"...Wow Miyuki-san, you really _do _think of everything! I'll have to keep that offer in mind though..."

Oh happy day, she thinks I was kidding and let the subject drop. Better off that way, actually.

Line Break: Meds and Misao

I'm in a weird place. I see so many people, but none of them look like me. They're so much taller than me, and when I try to talk to them, to make my mouth move like theirs' do, my mouth doesn't move. I can't move at all. The only thing that moves is my eyes, allowing me to explore my new home. My hair is on the edge of my vision, brown, I think.

Sometimes people into the room I'm in, look me over, talk to me, but I can never reply. A few times, the man in the white coat that comes more often than the others, he's shook his head in sadness while looking at me. Did I do something wrong?

After a while, I couldn't tell you how long, it was always the same level of light in the room, a person was wheeled into the room I was in on a large bed. She was next to me, and was fast asleep. She looked so peaceful, and at the same time, strangely familiar. She had the oddest color of hair. It was a lilac color, but for some reason, when I saw it, it made me angry. It's such a nice color, why would it make me mad? Did I have some lilac bushes that wilted recently?

I'm hungry, I wonder if this place has meatballs. Where am I again? The hospital, right? But why? I can't ask any questions out loud, I can't speak...that might be why. How did I end up here? I feel like I should remember this...

My mouth hurts. Like, a lot. At least Hiiragi kept her word and didn't shoot me in the jaw.

Wait.

Wait wait wait.

How the hell did I end up here? Hiiragi is right next to me...we're both alive! If I could jump for joy, I would, but you know, kind of in a hospital bed here. Pretty tricky to move at all.

My arms feel like bricks, I can't move them in the least bit. At least I can just lay here and watch the news station...oh no, they're doing coverage of the school! I can't turn it off, either...oh well, it'll be interesting to see what happened.

I wish I could remember why I'm happy to be alive….I feel like it was pretty important…..maybe?

Line Break:

It was odd for the streets to be so busy on a Wednesday night. It's almost midnight, and yet the sidewalk was still lightly populated with pedestrians moving both ways. Of course, every one of them stepped to the side to let me through. I had been ordered to remain in the riot uniform in case of public unrest, so here I was, still in the black armour, toting the same submachine gun as I was earlier, but now, I actually had the safety on.

It's been a very long day. It's been over 12 hours since that place got turned on its' head. I just left Uncle Sojiro's house after making sure Yutaka was okay, since she was sick, and making sure that Konata made it home alright. She was shaken but otherwise okay. Her computer's hard drive had crashed too, so Sojiro had to watch over our shoulders' _very _carefully as I allowed Konata to use my credit card to buy a new one off of the internet on his laptop. No one is getting any breaks today.

Honestly, I don't even _want _to know what's on that laptop, because it could probably get him arrested...he may be a pervy old man, but he's still my uncle.

I was on my way back to the hospital, if only to assauge my nerves. I had been there little over 3 hours ago, where I had talked to the girl that had taken a shotgun to the chest. It turns out she was actually the daughter of a very wealthy businessman, one who was suspected of being Yakuza, but had never been convicted. This did nothing to calm me, but maybe if the girl's father really was part of the organized crime around here, he'd make sure to get revenge...yeah, and tanuki's shed their skin every spring.

I hit the button for the crosswalk, still abiding by the traffic laws, despite the ban on vehicle traffic on this road at this hour of the night. I _am _a traffic cop, not a special forces commando; old habits die hard, I guess.

I walked across the street, watching the hospital loom into view as if by magic. The way the buildings were built, the hospital could not be seen from certain angles until you were right in front of it. I had come from one such direction.

Despite chief's order for me to get some rest, I was on duty on my own merit, in order to check up on the injured students. Several of those found injured today had died of various causes throughout the course of the day, but three of the more severely injured ones were still hanging on, and I had yet to receive a death certificate for any of them.

They were "played with" by the killers, that's for sure, and one in particular had a very personal connection with one of the killers. The were twin sisters, which made for a complicated situation no matter what, but as the medical team discovered evidence of what was done to the girl, it became more and more clear that the Tsukasa girl had been a raving lunatic, at the very least.

A short-barrelled assault rifle was found with the barrel covered in blood and bits of flesh. This by itself was highly unsettling, but once the surgeons discovered the source of the twin's injury, they were only more so unsettled by it.

The girl had deep gashes inside her vagina, and chunks of her vaginal wall were missing. The only reason she did not bleed out was that she apparently had a genetic condition that was previously unknown that allowed her blood to clot extremely quickly, but even so, she had needed to be supplemented with packets of blood for nearly 6 hours before they sewed up the internals, to put it nicely.

The other bits of flesh on the gun were determined to be the remains of the girl's hymen, which had been ripped apart by the barrel.

In short, the poor girl's sister brutally raped her with a rifle. Came very close to killing her, in fact.

Walking into the cool air of the hospital, I half-laughed from within my helmet as the hustle and bustle turned down a few notches. A black-clad policegirl carrying a gun and wearing the insignia of Japanese Special Forces is enough to quiet any room, even the waiting room of a hospital on the busiest day its' had in years.

Walking to the stairs, I begin the ascent to the 7th floor. You see, the elevators are just so overused that the stairs are much faster. Besides, it's good exercise...though that's the least of my problems right now.

Arriving at the correct floor, I had the courtesy to put the submachine gun I was carrying on my back in a holster that blended nicely into the black of the armor. Hospital patients do NOT need the kind of stress that seeing a gun causes...especially not on a hospital floor that currently only being used to treat victims of today's...events.

Still, I look like a black Stormtrooper...I'm taking the helmet off.

Carrying the helmet in one hand, I looked into the first room, where a girl with brown hair and yellow eyes had her head in an elaborate brace, and her mouth was encased in bandages and braces. She had been shot in the mouth, but she was lucky. The bullet had only hit her cheeks; it had missed her teeth and jaws entirely. The surgeons think she had been screaming when she was shot...

She was currently heavily drugged so she couldn't feel the 5.56 NATO-sized holes in her mouth. She was seemed to be asleep, as well, but she was also breathing steadily, so that's a good sign.

I stepped out, heading to the next room over, where the girl who had received a shotgun blast to the chest at what may have been point blank range. The girl was lying in bed eyes open, looking at the ceiling, and her breathing was virtually silent, almost like she was keeping it down. She looked at me when I came in, her purple eyes locking onto me in an instant.

She was bandaged heavily around the chest, and was also pretty lucky to not be sleeping with the fishies. The shotgun blast had avoided _most _of the important organs, failing to shred her lungs, but still managing to turn her appendix into a little pile of mush, and giving her an infection in her kidney.

Her left hand, though, had been pretty full of buckshot and was going to take a long time to heal.

In an unfortunate turn of events, a gas leak occurred at the apartment complex she lived in early this morning and caused an explosion, leveling a few walls and damaging the stairwell to the upper floors. Her apartment was on the floor that had been damaged, but the stairwell to the floor itself was undamaged.

When a messenger was sent to the apartment to give news to her family, the only person present was a man who identified himself as her uncle. He was polite enough, and had told the messenger that her father would be notified immediately. I received a phone call from the chief a few minutes later, as he was flabbergasted that such an important man, as he referred to her father as, would call him. The chief was funny like that.

The girl nodded at me, and managed a small smile, which I returned, before the girl's eyes began to droop and she fell asleep in front of me, almost like she had been waiting for me to be there, as though it were only safe for her to sleep when I was around...but that's crazy talk. She's just been through a lot today...

Well, that's sated my nerves for now...I should go home, maybe take off this armor, finally. Konata looked like she had a heart attack when I showed up at Uncle Sojiro's house still in full gear. I had forgotten to take my helmet off, so I was still a faceless soldier to her. She didn't calm down completely until about half an hour after I had arrived. She was skittish, and now that I think about it, had been extremely nervous when she had been using Sojiro's laptop...though that may have been because she didn't want to stumble into his sizable porn collection...Aunt Kanata had apparently treated him well, because now he went to the bathroom _far _too many times whenever I was around for it to just be a full bladder.

...anyways.

Line Break: I almost forgot! (Not really)

I could practically hear the silence after she revealed that she knew. She was looking in the mirror at me, and I didn't dare turn around. In the time it took to turn around, she could stab me. But what she said next surprised me.

"I'm not the only one. There's a few that saw you in the flesh and got away...I've talked to them. At first, they were disgusted and terrified, and wanted you dead. But, I showed them my way of thinking, and soon they were enthralled by the fact that the authorities are really simply ineffective against such a threat. It empowers us to see something like this happen. Each and every member of the youth of Japan is a potential killer, and our only limits are those that we will tear down, the limits set in place by this ancient way of doing things.

We're not alone, either. I bet you that others like us will take up the banner and fight against the status quo. Today may go down in infamy, but tomorrow will, even more, I'd put money on it. You're going to lead us, Izumi. You, and the others who will soon follow, you will bring us together, force us to rise to greatness, and crush the authority that is not meant to be.

The people do not need laws to govern themselves; the people govern themselves. If one kills another, it is fine, and if another disagrees, there is nothing to stop them from killing the first one. Such is how it should always be. The government is just impeding progress. They allow those who are weak and should not survive to survive, and perhaps even thrive.

We will take care of that. Any able-bodied candidate who wishes to fight for our cause will be able to, and will. Trust me. Are you with us, Izumi-sama?"

I turned around, seeing her face, one that truly thought that this would blossom into something more. I was still on the verge of getting caught, and the chances of escaping unscathed were already zero. Screw it, what's the worst that can happen?

"Alright, I guess I can help in the cause."

I put out a hand, which Sekine took and shook, before pulling me into a full fledged hug. She picked me up off of the ground and spun me around, before depositing me safely on the floor. She was monstrously strong for being so thin.

"Thank you Izumi-sama! For a second there, I thought I was going to have to kill you for being a puppet master for our cause! We can't have any replacement for Hiiragi-sama be a snivelling rat!"

Oh shit, what the hell did I just get myself into? At least she's leaving now...I still need to wash the blood off of my face.

What did she mean by others, anyways?

**A/N: Is that a yandere I smell? Probably. That or the sobs of a thousand parents over the death of their child and/or children. Konata's getting into some seriously weird shit, and Sekine is a hoodlum. Who would have thought? Not me. No, never. My obscure prod to the sequel from the previous chapter went unnoticed, even the great detective and king of tearing my stories apart Sqweebs didn't comprehend it, so that's good.**

**Next chapter is the last chapter! Hope you all enjoyed reading this fic as much as I did writing it. If you want, drop a review, I'm always grateful to hear from readers what their thoughts are. Creative input is much welcome too. **

**Keep calm and Counter-Strike the dinosaur. (wow, 6,000 words EXACTLY, on the dot, not including what's in this parentheses. I don't expect that for the last chapter. )**


	13. FIN

The Library

Chapter 13: FIN

**A/N: Well, here it is. It's probably worth it to note that this is the first fic I've actually finished. Anyways, to be in the mood to write this, I'm listening to "tsukasa hardcore recorder hits 2008" on repeat. Look the song up. It's amazing. so, now that you know I'm totally sane right now, read the rest of the story! It's not weird or exceptionally different from the other chapters.**

**Oh wait. yeah it is. Bring on the newscasts! Forgive me for using voice actors last names, first names, and random anime character's names for the names of places and people that may or may not end up mattering.**

"...A 17-year old student of Otonashi High attacked and killed her teacher by tearing out her jugular with her teeth. By the time the police arrived on the scene, the girl had escaped and is still at large. This comes less than 24 hours after the horrifying Ryoo High attack, which has left upwards of a thousand people dead. The attacks are believed to be related, and residents of the Tokyo residential districts are advised to stay inside until the suspect has been apprehended. Any information disclosing her potential location is extremely valuable, and anyone who may have seen a girl with a blood-stained shirt is advised to get to safety and call the local police immediately ..." 

"...Sakamoto Yue, a senior at Kitamura High, is wanted for the murder of her parents in their Okinawa apartment. A neighbor heard screams and glass breaking, and upon investigation, the girl fled from the scene, where two glass bottles had been smashed on their heads, and the shards pressed into their skulls. She was seen fleeing into subway tunnels after local authorities cornered her on the platform of a south-bound subway station..."

"...A young man was arrested a short time ago for disturbing the peace. He had climbed onto the roof of an idle delivery truck, and had been screaming at the top of his lungs. To quote him, "All of those who stand in the way of the true way will be crush by the all-encompassing weight of justice." The man is a suspected gang member, and is currently being held without bail."

"...In a shocking turn of events, the class president of the nearby Kunai High School's junior class committed suicide in front of the entire school today after shooting 4 teachers and 5 students dead with a pistol, before turning the gun on himself. The attack happened when the student was supposed to make a speech to the school concerning the proposed additions the school was to receive within the next 6 months. The speech that he started with, however was quite morbid in nature, and referenced the perpetrator of last week's Ryoo High attacks in an almost fanatical way, and pointed fingers of blame to the older generation, claiming that the populace of Japan was causing the government itself, and by extent, society, to stagnate.

The entirety of the school had sat in shocked silence throughout the speech, but when staff members and a few students attempted to restrain him when he was finished, he drew a pistol and fired on them at point blank range, killing all of them. His last words are reported to be 'You'll all see this truth eventually; I am just the first of many to uphold this glorious act of revenge.'..."

"...Despite increased security due to the attacks on schools in the nearby districts, and the fear from being only one district away from Ryoo High, North High was attacked by a pair of students on the track team. They had smuggled in hatchets in their sports bags, and when the lunch bell rang, proceeded to enter the lunchroom and beheaded, decapitated, and ultimately ended the lives of no less than two dozen students and staff. They then took each other's lives in the same manner they fell their victims with; they never said a word while proceeding in their attack. As a survivor stated, 'they looked to be blind; their eyes didn't react to anything, and their faces never changed. They looked...possessed.' This is part of an ever-growing string of attacks perpetrated by school-age students, both in schools and out. More recently, it does not appear that the attacks are related, and that something about the first attack caused the rest to occur..."

"...A police officer was stabbed and beaten into unconsciousness today at a baseball game at Hideki Field. A student reportedly approached him with a knife in hand, and before the officer could react, several students in the crowd lunged onto him. He is currently in critical condition, having suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest, as well as a broken leg and several hundred smaller bruises and cuts. None of the offenders have been caught, however; no one on the scene provided any information concerning them, even going as far as to claim that it had never happened..."

"...Earlier this morning a man in his early 20s was found in the street without any clothes, and missing much of his skin as well, and his eyes gouged out. The victim has not been identified, as all features of the individual, including eye and hair color, were non-existent, the conclusion that the corpse was male only stemming from the lack of female reproductive organs in the lower torso. It is unknown how he died or who he was..."

"A disturbing event took place this morning, even as the North High attack took place elsewhere. In a small village outside of Tokyo a student by the name of Renji Tsubasa poured copious amounts of gasoline around the old-style wooden school built in the early 30's. When school was in session, he took out a lighter and dropped it on the ground, sparking an inferno that consumed the entire multi-story building in less than an hour, taking many of its' students with it. When police arrived on the scene, Tsubasa willingly came into custody and explained to the police everything he had done, and sounded quite proud of himself while doing so. When asked why he would do such a thing, he replied back in a cryptic manner with the following, recorded from their interrogation.

"Why would you do something like that? You just ruined your own future and ended a lot of people's lives today."

The skinny, dark-skinned man with green hair just smiled a half-smile.

"I had no future to begin with officer. Besides, she showed that the government is but a weak stand-in when the people are too weak to defend themselves. She showed us that we can take down the government and put back into place what is right. I'm just helping the cause along. Others will do so as well, and ultimately, it'll be the end of the status quo. I may be in prison by the time that happens, but I'll be out soon enough."

This seems to indicate that some type of full-scale revolution is being planned, but the police have dismissed the idea. Further psychological evaluation has been performed on Tsubasa, who has been determined to be a pathological liar, and have a severe obsessive compulsive disorder, stroking any object that is purple in an almost motherly fashion..."

"...Though the steady stream of terrorist acts that have been caused by young adults in the wake of the Ryoo High attack were thought to have finally been waning, today a surprising event changed all of that. An attack was performed, not only on the 1-month anniversary of the most deadly school shooting in history, but it was also carried out by a student who attends Ryoo High. This student, whose name is unknown, but whose uniform is widely known, walked into a restaurant around 1:20 P.M., a time at which there would be no other students around. It is a widely known fact that the surviving students of the Ryoo High incident have been unable to return to school yet due to the extensive damages done to the school by bombs and the contamination caused by the chemical weapon that has rendered the central building accessible only via hazmat-level protective gear.

The student gave the cashier in the restaurant saying that he had a bomb, and would detonate it if she didn't bring the money in the cash registers to him promptly.

The cashier hit a silent alarm while she was collecting the money, activating a microphone that collected the following sound clip, before it was destroyed in the explosion.

"...That's all of it. Now, can you please leave?"

...

"Bitch, I don't think you get it. My intention was never to get free cash. I have a bomb. You don't have any protection from it. I feel like dying today. It'll appease my lord, my savior,and by making her happy, I'm happy. See you in hell."

"Wait, what are you-"

The static at the end of the clip is the activation of the explosive device the student was carrying, killing both of them, as well as causing the building to collapse, crushing many patrons and trapping the rest of them inside. Police are still working frantically to rescue those trapped inside, but in a race against time, they may not be able to save everyone.

This is the 40th attack by a school-age student in the past 30 days. The authorities are unable to find a pattern in their occurrences, causing many to believe they are all being organized independently. The general public is now being warned to stay inside when possible, and to avoid going into public places where large amounts of students will venture at the same time as them.

As most of these attacks have been centered around and in the city of Tokyo, the effort to curb the suspected suicidal tendencies of the population's youth is being turned into an initiative called K.I.T, short for Keep It Together, which is providing psychological help for any who request it, free of charge. However, it has had little effect on those who do use it, and a psychological evaluation of those attending both public and private high schools reported virtually non-existent numbers of students with tendencies attributed to the aggressors of these attack-"

The TV switched off with the rarely heard -click-. It's been 30 days since that day. Huh. It feels like a decade. But really, it couldn't be. I'd have run out of money if I wasn't teaching for that long. The fact that the state is paying for everything now is nice, too. I bought new computer with the money, and after swapping my hard drives over, it's so much better than the old one.

I'm still shocked over the whole thing, honestly. Hiiragi Tsukasa, of all people, was a homicidal murderer? Are you shitting me? Well, I saw her go by me when I was hiding in a classroom on the third floor. She had a gun, and after she left, it started firing, so it was no joke. A shame though; I could never see her harming anyone, much less kill off more than half of the school. Of course, she had help, but no one knows who those people are.

Well, almost no one. Someone MUST know, and it must be pretty damn important to them if they're not ratting them out.

I almost think Izumi is, because she sent me a weird email that morning with some of her account passwords and some message about not needing it, but she messaged me at like 11p.m. on **ir** T**e* explaining that her computer had crapped out and that she had sent that from her dad's laptop, because it would be awhile before she got the right parts for the computer, and that she wanted me to keep the account active, because she didn't want to fall behind the leveling curve.

I thought that it was awfully suspicious, but when she started talking about how terrible it was that everything had happened and how she was freaking out because she heard that one of her few friends was in critical condition, that suspicion began to wane. After all, what kind of person can kill dozens, and then fake innocence and cry about it only hours later? Not the happy-go-lucky girl that Konata is. No. That just doesn't happen.

But kids don't randomly kill people and kill themselves by the dozen right after one school shooting happens, right? Oh wait. It's happening, and I'm just as confused as everyone else. It probably won't help to think on it too much. There's an explanation out there, somewhere.

Anyways, I'm just sad that for the next few months after they fix up the school, my class is going to have about 10 of my original roster in it. The whole grade practically got wiped out, all of them, dead, and they're going to consolidate everyone else together to make it easier for the students, or something like that.

It still hasn't really made it through my head yet, though. All of them are dead. Hundreds of kids, bright, shining faces, almost done with school, almost ready to head off into the world and start a family. All of them, dead in a day. Hundreds of dreams crushed, even more families ruined.

So why am I so...unaffected by it? I mean, I was crying and freaking out while it was happening, and knew people were dying, but now, I'm like...meh. It happened, it's done, lets get back to teaching about how badass the samurai were. Of course, they actually weren't, but I know that no one actually pays attention in history anyways, so I tend to spice up my lessons a bit.

So now Izumi, Shiraishi, and Takara are the only ones who really got away without being harmed. I spoke with Takara over the phone once, about a week ago. She seemed to be doing fine, but when I asked her if she had any idea of who the mystery aggressors could have been, she got really awkward and nervous. I don't really blame her, though; apparently she watched half of the student council get mowed down by Tsukasa when she told them to leave. It was almost surreal, listening to some of these things, whether it's from the victim's perspective, or the sanitized explanation issued from the local police department every week as they discovered more evidence around the school as they systematically cleaned it up.

For example, there were enough bags containing ammunition for 3 people to carry. In fact, there had been enough unspent bullets found in one of the bags to keep a gun firing on full-auto for several minutes. That's a lot of bullets. A lot more than someone should think to bring on a killing spree. That's when you want to start a freaking revolution.

Something else that doesn't quite add up in police reports, and I've even asked Yui about it, but to no avail. The guns used in the attack were advanced weaponry, stuff that was only available to the American military and those in league with them. So how did some spec-ops limited production rifles that can hide rather _conveniently _in a bag. Smells pretty fishy to me. The biggest lead they have is some suspected Yakuza that lives in the general vicinity of the Hiiragi's, but that's not worth the onigiri I'm eating.

Speaking of the Hiiragi's, I heard that Tsukasa's twin was released from the hospital a few days ago. The truth finally came out of secrecy then as to what exactly had happened to her. It still makes me cringe when I think about it.

Her sister shoved one of those nice rifles into her privates, taking her virginity and basically shredding all the important parts. She had been in the hospital until all of the skin grafts had taken and the damaged tissue had began to heal. I heard all this from Yui, of course. I got her a little tipsy a few days ago and she spilled secrets like it was going out of style. I feel kind of bad about doing that, especially hearing the content I gleaned from the woman, but it let me be that much more sympathetic to the non-homicidal Hiiragi.

Oh god, I just thought of the shit she's going to go through in school. Well, she will be my student now...now that Sakuraba's position is open. I might be able to prevent some animosity from being directed towards her, but I can't block it all. Not a chance in hell.

You know, with all of this death and dying and terrorism and shit, I feel like something big is about to happen...I wonder if the public felt like this right before the French Revolution, because I think that's a good analogue to this state of public tension...

Nah, it's just me.

Line Break:

The rifle was heavy. Oh so heavy. But that's what you pay for when you get a .50 caliber sniper rifle. Good thing I'm not the one who paid for it. In fact, no one in our group had paid for it. It was a prototype that wasn't available anywhere but in America, and the equivalent cost to get one imported here would be close to 1.3 million yen. That's not a cheap piece of hardware. Yet, someone somewhere had donated it to Warrior, so here I was, on a rooftop, waiting to kill some cunt who was trying to make everyone's lives miserable.

The lightly falling rain made the neon lights below shimmer in the constantly changing refractions of light. Night had truly fallen, and my position atop the office building gave me a wide view of the surrounding area. The scope was fogging up, so I wiped it off with the edge of my shirt. My shirt was slowly getting soaked through, but I would be off into the streets soon enough, and shortly after that, back in the comfort of the home my friend's parents provide me post-mortem.

I pulled my bandanna down to better look through the scope, its' taut form having barred me from leaning in fully.

The target had not arrived yet, no vehicles of note had crossed the intersection yet.

I took a deep, shuddering breath. This hit, tonight, was a shot that would be heard around the world, much like the Americans at Concord. This would spark the birth of a new nation...or at the very least, the death of an old one. We'd make sure of that.

"Zero Nine, the target has entered your zone. Keep watch." The earpiece I was wearing chirped, but she did not repeat her message. Not that it needed to; I was fully aware of what was going on. This was the first High Value Target we were going for. Up until now, we had just been making merry terror with bombings, killings, murders, and public disturbances.

Rolling fully onto my stomach, I settled into a firing position, making sure the bipod was set firmly against the lip of the roof, and checking the wind speed and direction, which was thankfully non-existent. At this range, though, the rain would be a problem, each droplet forcing the metal cylinder of death closer to the ground, millimeter by millimeter, and potentially could cause it to miss its' target. I only got one shot on her..

"Target is arriving in the white Chrysler. I repeat, target is in white Chrysler." My earpiece chirped again, and I drew a deep breath, looking down range to the foreign vehicle in question. I had a few options here. The gun is semi-automatic, so I could perhaps take out both tires and then take out the target while they are trapped inside the vehicle. No, that would be too difficult. The target would know what was going on the instant the first round hit. No, I'll need to wait until they depart.

The luxury sedan pulled up to the curb, a woman in her late thirties' with bright orange hair departed from the vehicle, followed by two men in black suits. The woman looked strained, and one of the men patted her on the back gently, which she shook off with a slap.

Now now bitch, don't hit the hired help. That's awfully impolite.

Aiming about 3 meters above her head to account for distance, I pulled the trigger. The recoil was immense, sending both myself and the pad I was laying on backward almost a meter, due to the rain making the surface of the roof rather slick.. The rifle settled before the round impacted into her skull and shattering it into a burst of gore, allowing me to watch her fall to the ground with nothing but a stump, and her bodyguards to look around in confusion from the visual fidelity that a 12x optical scope provides.

"Target is down Warrior. I repeat, target has been eliminated." The laugh on the other end was pleased. But of course. The girl knew how to pick a spot to snipe an HVT from 1600 meters like wasn't anything but a thing. I just shoot straight. I'll do whatever she says...as long as I don't have the chance to be physically harmed, of course. Hiiragi told me I would be needed in the long run.

"Come on back ZyonNeun-kun, just don't get caught." For a homicidal killer following in the footsteps of another, infinitely greater homicidal killer, she sure has a good sense of humor. I got up, put on my glasses, and began to fold up the bipod of the rifle. The gun itself was of the bullpup configuration, meaning it was more compact than most high-caliber rifles. I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder with its' attached strap, making my way to the stairs.

It had been a simple matter to prop open an emergency exit with debris while there was still people..._older _peopleworking.

Today was just the first of many. Soon.

Soon they will find out just how wrong they were about these "uncoordinated acts of terrorism".

But by then, it will be much too late.

**A/N: I wanted to make more of a cliffhanger, but I didn't. That, right there, is the end of The Library. Yaaaaaay. Of course, there's a sequel in the works, but this needs some serious planning(read: I want to make a 2-3 chapter buffer so I'm not murdering myself to get the chapters out, thereby making them of inferior quality), so you might need to check back every few days before something shows up. **

**I'd like to thank everyone who left a review, your kind words and thoughts, both positive and negative, really help me out, and I think they do indeed help me to become a better writer. There's too many people to list that helped me out throughout this, so I won't try (I just did and the A/N was 2 pages) :3**

So with that, thank you and good night! /Kermit the frog voice

Elvis has left the building!...

**...Yo my ambassador Quan.**

**YOU RUIN EVERYTHING.**

...-snicker-...what did he say?...Ambassador Quan...who the fuck is that? 

**-piano lines, fade out-**


End file.
